HK40027709A - Systems and methods for communication beam loss recovery - Google Patents

Description

System and method for communication beam loss recovery

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority and benefit from U.S. provisional patent application No.62/559,519 entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS for organic music BEAM load REOVERY" filed 2017, 9, 16, and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as if fully set forth below.

Technical Field

The techniques discussed below relate generally to wireless communication systems and, more particularly, to communication beam loss recovery. Embodiments enable and provide systems and methods for communication beam recovery in the event that not all available communication control beams fail.

Background

Wireless communication systems have been widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasting. A typical wireless communication system may employ multiple-access techniques that can support communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access techniques include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

These multiple access techniques have been adopted in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a city-wide, country-wide, regional, or even global scale. An example of a telecommunications standard is Long Term Evolution (LTE). An example of a modification to LTE technology is referred to as 5G, which is sometimes also referred to as New Radio (NR). The terms 5G and NR represent improvements in LTE technology, which include, for example, various improvements to the radio interface, improvements in processing, and enabling higher bandwidth to provide additional functionality and connectivity.

By way of example, a wireless multiple-access communication system may include multiple base stations, each of which simultaneously supports communication for multiple communication devices, otherwise known as User Equipment (UE). A base station may communicate with a UE on downlink channels (e.g., for transmissions from the base station to the UE) and uplink channels (e.g., for transmissions from the UE to the base station). The UE may locate the base station by detecting a synchronization signal from which to acquire a base station identity code (cell ID), system timing information, frame alignment information, and the like. In systems where the receiver has a higher signal strength and is noise limited (e.g., millimeter wave systems), the beamformed synchronization signal may be scanned in the cell coverage area to provide coverage enhancement that improves detection. In a 5G or NR communication system, multiple communication control beams may be supported to provide a robust system against communication beam failure.

Disclosure of Invention

Each of the various implementations of the systems, methods, and devices falling within the scope of the appended claims has several aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes described herein. Without limiting the scope of the appended claims, some prominent features are described herein.

The details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims. It should be noted that the relative dimensions in the following figures are not drawn to scale.

One aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for communication, the method comprising: the method includes determining whether any of a plurality of communication control beams is malfunctioning, identifying at least one active communication control beam of the plurality of communication control beams, and transmitting a partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss communication on the at least one active communication control beam.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides a system for communication, comprising: a User Equipment (UE) configured to determine whether any one of a plurality of communication control beams is malfunctioning, the UE configured to identify at least one active communication control beam of the plurality of communication control beams, and the UE configured to transmit a partial beam-to-link (BPL) lost communication on the at least one active communication control beam.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides a method for communication, the method comprising: determining whether any of a plurality of communication control beams is malfunctioning; identifying at least one active communication control beam of the plurality of communication control beams; transmitting partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) lost communications when a partial BPL loss occurs between a first communication device and a first communication node, the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) lost communications occurring between the first communication device and a second communication node representing the first communication node experiencing the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss with the first communication device.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code for communication, the code executable by a processor for: determining whether any of a plurality of communication control beams is malfunctioning; identifying at least one active communication control beam of the plurality of communication control beams; transmitting a partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) lost communication on the at least one active communication control beam.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus for communication, the apparatus comprising: means for determining whether any of a plurality of communication control beams is malfunctioning; means for identifying at least one active communication control beam of the plurality of communication control beams; means for transmitting a partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) lost communication on the at least one active communication control beam.

Drawings

In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified. For reference numerals having an alphabetical character such as "102 a" or "102 b," such alphabetical character designations can distinguish two similar components or elements appearing in the same figure. When a reference numeral covers all components having the same reference numeral among all drawings, letter character designation for the reference numeral may be omitted.

Fig. 1 is a network diagram illustrating an example of a network architecture, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an access network in accordance with various aspects of the disclosure.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a Downlink (DL) frame structure in LTE, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a UL frame structure in LTE, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a radio protocol architecture for the user plane and the control plane in accordance with various aspects of the disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an evolved node B and user equipment in an access network, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating a device-to-device communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of beamforming in a low frequency wireless communication system (e.g., LTE).

Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of beamforming in a high-frequency wireless communication system (e.g., mmW system).

Fig. 10 is a diagram illustrating a communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11A is a diagram of a communication system including a base station and a UE for use in wireless communications, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11B is a diagram of a communication system including a base station and a UE for use in wireless communications, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a method for communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 13 is a functional block diagram illustrating an apparatus for a communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 14 is a call flow diagram for a communication system in accordance with various aspects of the disclosure.

Fig. 15 is a call flow diagram for a communication system in accordance with various aspects of the disclosure.

Fig. 16 is a call flow diagram for a communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 17 is a diagram of a communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 18 is a call flow diagram for a communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects.

Some aspects of a telecommunications system are now presented with reference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methods are described in the following detailed description and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (which are collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

For example, an element, or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements, may be implemented as a "processing system" that includes one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), Central Processing Units (CPUs), application processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processors, system on chip (SoC), baseband processors, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functions described throughout this disclosure. One or more processors in the processing system may execute software. Software should be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code segments, program code, programs, subroutines, software components, applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other terminology.

Thus, in one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the functions may be stored or encoded as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer readable media includes computer storage media. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, combinations of the foregoing types of computer-readable media, or any other medium that can be used to store computer-executable code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

The following description provides examples, which are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as necessary. For example, the methods described may be performed in a different order than described, with various steps added, omitted, or combined. Furthermore, features described with respect to certain examples may also be combined in other examples.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to beamforming systems typically used in millimeter wave communication systems in which it is desirable to provide systems and methods for communication beam recovery in the event that there may be multiple communication control beams and not all of the communication control beams fail. In such methods and systems, not all communication control beams may fail, which may be referred to as a partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss, wherein a subset of the plurality of communication control beams may fail, leaving at least one BPL established between the base station and the UE.

The term "beam management" generally refers to a set of layer 1 (L1) or layer 2 (L2) (open system interconnection layer 7 model) procedures to acquire and maintain Transmission Reception Point (TRP) and/or User Equipment (UE) beams that may be used for Downlink (DL) and Uplink (UL) transmission and reception.

The term "beam determination" refers to the case where a TRP or UE selects its own transmit and receive communication beams.

The term "beam measurement" refers to the case where a TRP or UE measures a characteristic of a received beamformed signal.

The term "beam reporting" generally refers to the UE reporting information of beamformed signals based on beam measurement processing.

The term "beam scanning" refers to the operation of covering a spatial region in a predetermined manner using beams transmitted and/or received during a certain time interval.

As used herein, the term "service beam" refers to an active communication beam and/or an active communication BPL between two communication devices.

As used herein, the term "target beam" or "candidate beam" refers to another available communication beam and/or an available communication BPL between two communication devices that may be used for communication.

As used herein, the term Radio Link Failure (RLF) refers to a failure of radio communication on a service beam between two communication devices.

Both channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) signals and synchronization signals (SS signals) may be used for Beam Management (BM).

The BM process supports L1-RSRP (reference signal received power) reporting from CSI-RS and/or SS blocks.

An SS burst having L blocks is periodically transmitted. The transmission of the CSI-RS may be periodic, wherein the base station configures the CSI-RS for the UE through Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages during connection establishment; or the transmission of the CSI-RS may be aperiodic, when it is scheduled by the base station. The transmission of the CSI-RS may also be semi-persistent, wherein the CSI-RS is configured for the UE by RRC messages and activated/deactivated by the base station during the connection setup.

The beam measurement report (e.g., L1-RSRP report) of the UE may be periodic, wherein the beam measurement report of the UE is configured for the UE through RRC messages during connection setup; or the beam measurement report of the UE is aperiodic, it supports at least base station triggered aperiodic beam reporting for 5G or NR.

The beam measurement report (e.g., L1-RSRP report) of the UE may be semi-persistent, where the beam measurement report of the UE is configured for the UE through RRC messages during connection setup and activated/deactivated by the base station.

Both CSI-RS and SS may be UE-based beam measurement reports, where the base station makes a decision to update the serving beam.

Currently, at least network-triggered aperiodic beam reporting is supported. Aperiodic beam reporting may also be supported in some cases.

In LTE, the only L1 request signal is a Scheduling Request (SR) over the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). SR may be triggered by Buffer Status Report (BSR) MAC CE (medium access control element) in the MAC layer. The BSR may be triggered due to Uplink (UL) data traffic or RRC signaling messages.

For beam failure detection, the UE monitors the beam failure detection Reference Signal (RS) to evaluate whether the beam failure trigger condition has been met. For a new candidate beam identity, the UE monitors the beam identity RS to find a new candidate beam. The beam identity RS includes a periodic CSI-RS for beam management if it is configured by the network, and a periodic CSI-RS and an SS block within the serving cell if the SS block is also used in beam management.

For beam failure recovery request transmission, the UE reports the newly identified candidate TX beam over a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), a PRACH-like communication (e.g., a communication using parameters different from a preamble sequence of the PRACH communication), or a PUCCH. The UE may monitor the base station for a response to the beam failure recovery request. The UE may monitor an NR-PDCCH (new radio physical downlink control channel) with demodulation reference signals (DMRS) spatially co-located (QCL) with the RS of the candidate beam identified by the UE.

Currently, the UE monitors periodic reference beams that may be quasi co-located (QCLs) with the current serving beam and/or serving control channel. If the UE detects beam failures for all possible control beams, the UE then searches for one or more new candidate beams at the next periodic CSI-RS or SS opportunity. If the UE detects one or more new candidate beams, the UE transmits a beam failure recovery request with information about the identified one or more candidate beams to the base station. The UE then monitors the base station for a response to the beam failure recovery request. This process is typically performed when there is a complete Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss or failure, and the UE is typically required to wait for CSI-RS or SS signals from the base station before starting its beam recovery process, delaying any beam recovery process by at least one communication cycle while the UE waits for CSI-RS or SS signals from the base station.

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an LTE network architecture 100. The LTE network architecture 100 may be referred to as an Evolved Packet System (EPS) 100. The EPS 100 may include one or more User Equipment (UE)102, an evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN)104, an Evolved Packet Core (EPC)110, and operator Internet Protocol (IP) services 122. The EPS 100 may interconnect with other access networks, but for simplicity these entities/interfaces are not shown. As shown, the EPS 100 provides packet switched services, however, as will be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be extended to networks providing circuit switched services. Further, although an LTE network is shown as an example, other types of networks (e.g., including only 5G networks) may also be used.

E-UTRAN 104 includes base stations 106 (e.g., evolved node bs (enbs) 106 and other enbs 108), which may include a gsdeb (gnb), home node B, home eNodeB, or base station using some other suitable terminology. For example, in a 5G or New Radio (NR) network, the base station may be referred to as a gNB. E-UTRAN 104 may also include Multicast Coordination Entity (MCE) 128. The eNB 106 provides user plane and control plane protocol terminations toward the UE 102. The eNB 106 may connect to other enbs 108 via a backhaul (e.g., an X2 interface). The MCE128 allocates time/frequency radio resources for an evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) (eMBMS) and determines a radio configuration (e.g., a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS)) for the eMBMS. The MCE128 may be a separate entity or part of the eNB 106. The eNB 106 may also be referred to as a base station, a node B, an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a Basic Service Set (BSS), an Extended Service Set (ESS), or some other suitable terminology. eNB 106 provides an access point for EPC 110 for UE 102. Examples of UEs 102 include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a tablet, a netbook, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, or any other similar functioning device. One of ordinary skill in the art may also refer to UE102 as a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

eNB 106 is connected to EPC 110. EPC 110 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME)112, a Home Subscriber Server (HSS)120, other MMEs 114, a serving gateway 116, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) gateway 124, a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC)126, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway 118. MME 112 is a control node that handles signaling between UE102 and EPC 110. Generally, the MME 112 provides bearer and connection management. All user IP packets are transmitted through the serving gateway 116, where the serving gateway 116 is itself connected to the PDN gateway 118. The PDN gateway 118 provides UE IP address allocation as well as other functions. The PDN gateway 118 and BM-SC 126 are connected to the IP service 122. The IP services 122 may include the internet, intranets, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), PS streaming services (PSs), and/or other IP services. BM-SC 126 may provide functionality for MBMS user service provision and delivery. BM-SC 126 may serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within the PLMN, and may be used to schedule and deliver MBMS transmissions. The MBMS gateway 124 may be used to allocate MBMS traffic to enbs (e.g., 106, 108) belonging to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area broadcasting a particular service, and may be responsible for session management (start/stop) and for collecting eMBMS-related charging information.

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an access network 200 in an LTE network architecture. In this example, the access network 200 is divided into a plurality of cellular regions (cells) 202. One or more low power type enbs/gnbs 208 may have cellular regions 210 that overlap with one or more of cells 202. The low power type eNB/gNB 208 may be a femto cell (e.g., a home eNB (henb)), pico cell, micro cell, or Remote Radio Head (RRH). The macro eNB/gNB204 is assigned to each cell 202 and is configured to provide an access point for the EPC 110 to all UEs 206 in the cell 202. In this example of the access network 200, there is no centralized controller, but a centralized controller may be used in alternative configurations. The eNB/gNB204 is responsible for all radio related functions including radio bearer control, admission control, mobility control, scheduling, security, and connectivity to the serving gateway 116. An eNB/gNB may support one or more (e.g., three) cells (also referred to as sectors). The term "cell" may refer to a smallest coverage area of an eNB/gNB and/or an eNB/gNB subsystem serving a particular coverage area. Further, the terms "eNB", "gNB", "base station", and "cell" may be used interchangeably herein.

The modulation and multiple access schemes employed by access network 200 may vary depending on the particular communication standard deployed. In LTE applications, OFDM may be used on the DL and SC-FDMA on the UL to support Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD). As will be readily appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description, the various concepts presented herein are well suited for use in LTE applications. However, these concepts can be readily extended to other communication standards employing other modulation and multiple access techniques. By way of example, the concepts may be extended to evolution-data optimized (EV-DO), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), 5G, or other modulation and multiple access technologies. EV-DO and UMB are air interface standards promulgated by the third generation partnership project 2(2GPP2) as part of the CDMA2000 family of standards that employ CDMA to provide broadband internet access to mobile stations. These concepts may also be extended to Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) employing wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) and other variants of CDMA (e.g., TD-SCDMA); global system for mobile communications (GSM) using TDMA; and evolved UTRA (E-UTRA) with OFDMA, IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16(WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, and flash OFDM. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, and GSM are described in documents from the 3GPP organization. CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from the 3GPP2 organization. The actual wireless communication standard and multiple access technique employed depends on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

eNB/gNB204 may have multiple antennas supporting MIMO technology. The use of MIMO technology enables eNB/gNB204 to use the spatial domain to support spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and transmit diversity. Spatial multiplexing may be used to transmit different data streams simultaneously on the same frequency. The data stream may be sent to a single UE206 to increase the data rate or to multiple UEs 206 to increase the overall system capacity. This may be achieved by spatially precoding each data stream (i.e., applying a scaling of amplitude and phase) and then transmitting each spatially precoded stream over the DL through multiple transmit antennas. The spatially precoded data streams arriving at the UE206 have different spatial characteristics, which enables each UE206 to recover one or more data streams destined for that UE 206. On the UL, each UE206 transmits a spatially precoded data stream, which enables the eNB/gNB204 to identify the source of each spatially precoded data stream.

When the channel conditions are good, spatial multiplexing is typically used. Beamforming may be used to focus the transmitted energy in one or more directions when channel conditions are less favorable. This may be achieved by spatially precoding data transmitted via multiple antennas. To achieve good coverage at the cell edge, single stream beamforming transmission may be used in conjunction with transmit diversity.

In the detailed description that follows, various aspects of an access network will be described with reference to a MIMO system supporting OFDM on the DL. OFDM is a spread spectrum technique that modulates data over multiple subcarriers in an OFDMA symbol. The subcarriers are spaced apart by a precise frequency. This spacing provides "orthogonality" that enables the receiver to recover the data from the subcarriers. In the time domain, a guard interval (e.g., a cyclic prefix) may be added to each OFDM symbol to prevent inter-OFDM symbol interference. The UL may use SC-FDMA in the form of a DFT-spread OFDM signal to compensate for the higher peak-to-average power ratio (PARR).

Fig. 3 is a diagram 300 showing an example of a Downlink (DL) frame structure in LTE. A frame (10ms) may be divided into 10 equally sized sub-frames. Each subframe may include two consecutive slots. A resource grid may be used to represent two slots, each slot comprising one resource block. A resource grid is divided into a plurality of resource elements. In LTE, for a normal cyclic prefix, one resource block contains 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain, 7 consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain, and a total of 84 resource elements. For an extended cyclic prefix, one resource block contains 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 resource elements. Other numbers of subcarriers in the frequency domain and symbols in the time domain providing other numbers of resource elements are possible in other exemplary communication systems, such as 5G or NR communication systems. Some of the resource elements (indicated as R302, 304) include DL reference signals (DL-RS). The DR-RS includes cell-specific RS (crs) (which is sometimes referred to as common RS)302 and UE-specific RS (UE-RS) 304. The UE-RS 304 is transmitted on the resource blocks to which the corresponding Physical DL Shared Channel (PDSCH) is mapped. The number of bits carried by each resource element depends on the modulation scheme. Therefore, the more resource blocks the UE receives, the higher the data density of the modulation scheme, and the higher the data rate of the UE.

Fig. 4 is a diagram 400 showing an example of the UL frame structure in LTE. The available resource blocks for the UL may be divided into a data portion and a control portion. The control section may be formed at both edges of the system bandwidth and may have a configurable size. The resource blocks in the control portion may be allocated to the UE for transmission of control information. The data portion may include all resource blocks not included in the control portion. The UL frame structure results in the data portion including contiguous subcarriers, which may allow a single UE to be allocated all of the contiguous subcarriers in the data portion.

The resource blocks 410a, 410b may be allocated to the UE in the control portion to transmit control information to the eNB/gNB. The UE may also be allocated resource blocks 420a, 420b in the data portion to transmit data to the eNB/gNB. The UE may send control information in a Physical UL Control Channel (PUCCH) on the allocated resource blocks in the control portion. The UE may send data or both data and control information in a Physical UL Shared Channel (PUSCH) on the allocated resource blocks in the data portion. The UL transmission may span two slots of a subframe and may hop across frequency.

Initial system access may be performed using a set of resource blocks and UL synchronization may be achieved in a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) 430. The PRACH 430 carries a random sequence and cannot carry any UL data/signaling. Each random access preamble occupies a bandwidth corresponding to six consecutive resource blocks. The starting frequency is specified by the network. That is, the transmission of the random access preamble is restricted to certain time and frequency resources. The PRACH does not have frequency hopping. The PRACH attempt is carried in a single subframe (1ms) or a sequence of several consecutive subframes, and the UE may make one PRACH attempt per frame (10 ms).

Fig. 5 is a diagram 500 illustrating an example of a radio protocol architecture for the user plane and control plane in LTE, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The radio protocol architecture for the UE and eNB is shown using three layers: layer 1, layer 2 and layer 3. Layer 1(L1 layer) is the lowest layer and implements various physical layer signal processing functions. The L1 layer is also referred to herein as the physical layer 506. Layer 2(L2 layer) 508 is higher than physical layer 506 and is responsible for the link between the UE and the eNB above physical layer 506.

In the user plane, the L2 layer 508 includes a Medium Access Control (MAC) sublayer 510, a Radio Link Control (RLC) sublayer 512, and a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP)514 sublayer, which terminate at the eNB on the network side. Although not shown, the UE may have some upper layers above the L2 layer, including a network layer (e.g., IP layer) that terminates at the PDN gateway 118 on the network side and an application layer that terminates at the other end of the connection (e.g., far end UE, server, etc.).

The PDCP sublayer 514 provides multiplexing between different radio bearers and logical channels. The PDCP sublayer 514 also provides header compression for upper layer data packets to reduce radio transmission overhead, security by ciphering the data packets, and handover support for UEs between enbs. The RLC sublayer 512 provides segmentation and reassembly of upper layer data packets, retransmission of lost data packets, and reordering of data packets to compensate for out-of-order reception due to hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ). The MAC sublayer 510 provides multiplexing between logical channels and transport channels. The MAC sublayer 510 is also responsible for allocating various radio resources (e.g., resource blocks) in one cell among the UEs. The MAC sublayer 510 is also responsible for HARQ operations.

In the control plane, the radio protocol architecture for the UE and eNB is substantially the same for the physical layer 506 and the L2 layer 508, except that there is no header compression function for the control plane. The control plane also includes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) sublayer 516 in layer 3 (layer L3). The RRC sublayer 516 is responsible for obtaining radio resources (i.e., radio bearers) and for configuring lower layers using RRC signaling between the eNB and the UE.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of eNB/gNB 610 communication with UE 650 in an access network in accordance with various aspects of the disclosure. In the DL, upper layer packets from the core network are provided to a controller/processor 675. The controller/processor 675 implements the functionality of the L2 layer. In the DL, the controller/processor 675 provides: header compression, ciphering, packet segmentation and reordering, multiplexing between logical and transport channels, and radio resource allocation to the UE 650 based on various priority metrics. The controller/processor 675 is also responsible for HARQ operations, retransmission of lost packets, and signaling to the UE 650.

The Transmit (TX) processor 616 performs various signal processing functions for layer L1 (i.e., the physical layer). These signal processing functions include coding and interleaving to facilitate Forward Error Correction (FEC) at the UE 650, and mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK), Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols are then split into parallel streams. Each stream is then mapped to OFDM subcarriers, multiplexed with reference signals (e.g., pilots) in the time and/or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially precoded to generate a plurality of spatial streams. The channel estimates from channel estimator 674 may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes, as well as to implement spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signal and/or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 650. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a different antenna 620 via a separate transmitter 618 TX. Each transmitter 618TX may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

At the UE 650, each receiver 654RX receives a signal through its respective antenna 652. Each receiver 654RX recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to a Receive (RX) processor 656. The RX processor 656 performs various signal processing functions at the L1 layer. The RX processor 656 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 650. If multiple spatial streams are intended for the UE 650, the RX processor 656 can combine them into a single OFDM symbol stream. The RX processor 656 then transforms the OFDM symbol stream from the time-domain to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDMA symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, as well as the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the eNB 610. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by the channel estimator 658. These soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted by the eNB 610 on the physical channel. These data and control signals are then provided to the controller/processor 659.

The controller/processor 659 implements the L2 layer. The controller/processor 659 may be associated with a memory 660 that stores program codes and data. Memory 660 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller/processor 659 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression and control signal processing to recover upper layer packets from the core network. The upper layer packets are then provided to a data sink 662, the data sink 662 representing all protocol layers above the L2 layer. Various control signals may also be provided to the data sink 662 for L3 processing. The controller/processor 659 is also responsible for error detection using an Acknowledgement (ACK) and/or Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) protocol to support HARQ operations.

In the UL, a data source 667 is used to provide upper layer packets to the controller/processor 659. The data source 667 represents all protocol layers above the L2 layer. Similar to the functionality described in connection with the DL transmission of the eNB 610, the controller/processor 659 implements the L2 layer for the user plane and the control plane by providing header compression, ciphering, packet segmentation and reordering, and multiplexing between logical and transport channels based on radio resource allocation by the eNB 610. The controller/processor 659 is also responsible for HARQ operations, retransmission of lost packets, and signaling to the eNB 610.

Channel estimates, derived by a channel estimator 658 from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by eNB 610, may be used by TX processor 668 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the TX processor 668 may be provided to different antenna 652 via respective transmitters 654 TX. Each transmitter 654TX may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

The eNB 610 processes the UL transmissions in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function at the UE 650. Each receiver 618RX receives a signal through its respective antenna 620. Each receiver 618RX recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to an RX processor 670. RX processor 670 may implement the L1 layer.

The controller/processor 675 implements the L2 layer. The controller/processor 675 can be associated with a memory 676 that stores program codes and data. The memory 676 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller/processor 675 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processing to recover upper layer packets from the UE 650. Upper layer packets from the controller/processor 675 may be provided to the core network. The controller/processor 675 is also responsible for error detection using ACK and/or NACK protocols to support HARQ operations.

The UE 650 may also include one or more internal sensors, collectively shown as a sensor element 669 coupled to the controller/processor 659. The sensor element 669 may include one or more sensors (e.g., motion sensors, position sensors, etc.) configured to allow the UE 650 to determine, for example, its position, orientation, position of a hand or other portion of the human anatomy relative to the UE 650, particularly the relationship of the anatomy to an antenna array on the UE 650, and so forth.

Fig. 7 is a diagram of a device-to-device (D2D) communication system 700, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The device-to-device communication system 700 may be implemented by the network shown in fig. 1, in an exemplary embodiment, the system 700 includes a plurality of wireless devices 704, 706, 708, 710. The device-to-device communication system 700 may overlap with a cellular communication system, such as a Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN). Some of the wireless devices 704, 706, 708, 710 may communicate together in device-to-device (or peer-to-peer) communication using the DL/UL WWAN spectrum, some may communicate with the base station 702, and some may communicate using both. For example, as shown in fig. 7, the wireless devices 708, 710 are in device-to-device communication and the wireless devices 704, 706 are in device-to-device communication. The wireless devices 704, 706 are also communicating with the base station 702.

In one configuration, some or all of the UEs 704, 706, 708, 710 may be equipped or located on-board a vehicle. In this configuration, the D2D communication system 700 may also be referred to as a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system.

The exemplary methods and apparatus discussed below are applicable to any of a variety of wireless device-to-device communication systems (e.g., a wireless device-to-device communication system based on FlashLinQ, WiMedia, bluetooth, ZigBee, or Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard). For simplicity of discussion, exemplary methods and apparatus are discussed in the context of LTE. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the example methods and apparatus may be more generally applicable to various other wireless device-to-device communication systems.

Fig. 8 is a diagram 800 illustrating an example of beamforming in a low frequency wireless communication system (e.g., LTE). Fig. 8 includes antenna arrays 802 and 804. In an exemplary embodiment, the antenna array 802 may include a plurality of antenna elements (e.g., antenna elements 812) arranged in a grid pattern (e.g., a planar array) and may be located in a base station. In an example embodiment, the antenna array 804 may include multiple antenna elements (e.g., antenna element 814) arranged in a grid pattern and may be located in the UE. As shown in fig. 8, antenna array 802 may transmit beam 806 and antenna array 804 may receive via beam 808. In an exemplary embodiment, beams 806 and 808 may be reflected, scattered, and/or diffracted via a cluster located at region 810.

Fig. 9 is a diagram 900 illustrating beamforming in a high frequency wireless communication system (e.g., mmW system). Fig. 9 includes antenna arrays 902 and 904. In an example embodiment, the antenna array 902 may include a plurality of antenna elements (e.g., antenna element 912) arranged in a grid pattern and may be located in a mmW base station. In an example embodiment, the antenna array 904 may include multiple antenna elements (e.g., antenna element 914) arranged in a grid pattern and may be located in the UE. As shown in fig. 9, antenna array 902 may transmit beam 906 and antenna array 904 may receive via beam 908. In an exemplary embodiment, beams 906 and 908 can be reflected, scattered, and/or diffracted via clusters located at region 910.

It should be noted that antenna array 902 in fig. 9 includes a greater number of antenna elements than antenna array 802 in fig. 8, and antenna array 904 in fig. 9 includes a greater number of antenna elements than antenna array 804 in fig. 8. The greater number of antennas in the former scenario (relative to the latter scenario) is due to the larger carrier frequency corresponding to the smaller wavelength, which allows a greater number of antennas to be deployed within the same aperture/area. The greater number of antenna elements in antenna arrays 902 and 904 allows beams 906 and 908 to have narrower half-power beamwidths, which provide higher angular resolution relative to beams 806 and 808 from antenna arrays 802 and 804. Thus, a lower number of antenna elements in the antenna arrays 802 and 804 in a low frequency wireless communication system may result in a wider angular resolution while providing better link margin than a mmW system.

In standalone mmW wireless communication systems, high link loss (due to penetration, diffraction, reflection, etc.) may prevent the discovery of multipath angle information. In contrast, a low frequency wireless communication system may provide a higher quality link (e.g., a link with a higher SNR) than a link in a standalone mmW wireless communication system. Such higher SNR of low frequency wireless communication systems and the coexistence of low frequencies with independent mmW wireless communication systems may be utilized to determine angle information and/or relative path gain for beamforming schemes. Since the angular information and/or relative path gain of a beamforming scheme is determined only by the relative geometry of the transmitter, receiver, and scatterer, such angular information and/or relative path gain is typically invariant in stand-alone mmW and low frequency wireless communication systems. While the ranking (priority) of the existing paths may change with carrier frequency (e.g., due to differential scattering and/or absorption loss at different frequencies), such ranking may not change in most cases.

The method for learning angles of beam arrival and departure that succeed at high SNR can be used to learn angles of beam arrival and departure in low frequency wireless communication systems. These methods may include multiple signal classification (MUSIC), estimation of signal parameters by rotation invariant techniques (ESPRIT), space alternating generalized expectation maximization (SAGE) algorithms, and so forth. In some scenarios, the wide beam width of low frequency transmissions in low frequency wireless communication systems may result in poor angular accuracy. In an exemplary embodiment, the angles learned for the low frequency wireless communication system may be used as a rough estimate of the angles (also referred to as angle information) needed for beamforming in the mmW wireless communication system. A coarse angle estimate obtained via a low frequency wireless communication system may be used as an initial value (also referred to as a seed value) to determine a precise estimate of angle information for the mmW wireless communication system. For example, an algorithm such as beamlet tuning or constrained MUSIC may be used to determine an accurate estimate.

The asymmetry capability between mmW wireless communication systems and low frequency wireless communication systems may be exploited to reduce the complexity in algorithms for implementing mmW wireless communication systems and low frequency wireless communication systems. For example, a low frequency wireless communication system may use a smaller number of antennas than a mmW wireless communication system. In algorithms such as MUSIC, ESPRIT and/or SAGE, this asymmetry in the number of antennas can be exploited to estimate the possible signal direction. It should be noted that estimating the possible signal directions using any such algorithm (e.g., MUSIC, ESPRIT, and/or SAGE) is based on obtaining an accurate estimate of the signal covariance matrix. For example, for smaller antenna systems, accurate estimation of the signal covariance matrix can be achieved using a smaller number of training samples (or shorter covariance matrix acquisition and angle learning periods) and at a lower computational cost (fewer multiplications and additions, smaller dimensional matrix inversion) than for larger dimensional antenna systems.

In low frequency wireless communication systems, asymmetric capabilities between a transmitter and a receiver may be utilized to proportionally allocate more resources for angle determination in low frequency wireless communication systems than in mmW wireless communication systems. For example, asymmetric capabilities may include different numbers of antennas at the transmitter and receiver, different beamforming capabilities between the transmitter and receiver (e.g., digital beamforming capabilities or RF beamforming capabilities), and/or lower power at the receiver.

In an exemplary embodiment, cell frame and OFDM symbol timing information obtained from a low frequency wireless communication system may be used as initial values for further refinement with a mmW wireless communication system. In the exemplary embodiment, since low frequency wireless communication systems generally provide better SNR than mmW wireless communication systems, these quantities may be more reliably estimated at lower frequencies (e.g., below 6.0GHZ) than at higher frequencies (e.g., frequencies between 10.0GHZ and 300.0 GHZ). Cell frame and/or OFDM symbol timing information may be determined using synchronization signals (e.g., Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS)) that enable a UE to synchronize with a cell and detect quantities of interest (e.g., cell frame timing, carrier frequency offset, OFDM symbol timing, and/or cell Identification (ID)).

After fine tuning around the estimate provided by the low frequency wireless communication system, the carrier frequency offset of the mmW wireless communication system may be estimated. For example, the fine tuning may be performed with a smaller number of frequency hypotheses. Thus, low frequency assistance may significantly improve the performance of mmW protocols in terms of latency, lower SNR requirements for the same performance, and/or lower computational cost.

Fig. 10 is a diagram illustrating a communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Communication system 1000 may include a base station (not shown) having a base station antenna array 1002 and a UE (not shown) having a UE antenna array 1004. Antenna array 1002 may include multiple antenna elements (e.g., antenna element 1012) arranged in a grid pattern and may be located in a base station, and antenna array 1004 may include multiple antenna elements (e.g., antenna element 1014) arranged in a grid pattern and may be located in a UE.

Antenna array 1002 and antenna array 1004 are shown relative to a Global Coordinate System (GCS) 1010. The GCS 1010 is shown as a cartesian coordinate system with orthogonal X, Y and Z axes, but may be any coordinate system (e.g., a polar coordinate system). GCS 1010 may be used to specify the location of antenna array 1002 and antenna array 1004, as well as the communication beams associated with antenna array 1002 and antenna array 1004.

In the exemplary embodiment, antenna array 1002 is shown as generating six (6) communication beams 1021, 1022, 1023, 1024, 1025, and 1026 (also labeled 1 through 6 in fig. 1). In the exemplary embodiment, antenna array 1004 is shown generating four (4) communication beams 1031, 1032, 1033, and 1034 (also labeled 1 through 4 in fig. 10). It should be understood that antenna array 1002 and antenna array 1004 are capable of producing more communication beams than those shown in fig. 10. Additionally, the communication beams generated by antenna array 1002 and antenna array 1004 can generate transmit and receive communication beams.

In an exemplary embodiment, at least some of communication beams 1021, 1022, 1023, 1024, 1025, and 1026 and at least some of communication beams 1031, 1032, 1033, and 1034 may form a Beam Pair Link (BPL), and in an exemplary embodiment, multiple BPLs may be formed. In an exemplary embodiment, communication beam 1023 and communication beam 1032 may form a BPL 1051, thereby allowing communication devices associated with antenna array 1002 and antenna array 1004 to communicate bi-directionally. Similarly, communication beam 1024 and communication beam 1033 may form BPL 1053, and communication beam 1025 and communication beam 1034 may form BPL 1055. Although three BPLs 1051, 1053, and 1055 are shown in fig. 10, more or fewer BPLs may be present between antenna array 1002 and antenna array 1004. In an exemplary embodiment, communication beams 1023, 1024, 1025, 1031, 1033, and 1034 may be referred to as "serving beams" when they are being used for active communications, and target beams or candidate beams if communication beams 1021, 1022, 1026, and 1032 are available for communications.

In an exemplary embodiment, beamforming results in higher spectral efficiency in mmW or 5G or NR systems. UE-specific and base station-specific (5G-NR unspecified) analog codebooks may be used for beamforming at the UE and the base station, respectively. This codebook design is typically proprietary at both the base station and the UE. Typical codebook/beam design constraints include: such as antenna array gain versus coverage tradeoffs.

Fig. 11A is a diagram 1100 of a communication system including a base station 106 and a UE102 for use in wireless communications, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Base station 106 may be an example of one or more aspects of a base station described with reference to fig. 1. It may also be an example of a base station as described with reference to fig. 6.

The UE102 may be an example of one or more aspects of the UE described with reference to fig. 1. It may also be an example of the UE described with reference to fig. 6.

UE102 may be in two-way wireless communication with base station 106. In an exemplary embodiment, the UE102 may be in bidirectional wireless communication with the base station 106 through a serving beam 1103, the serving beam 1103 also being referred to as BPL 1105. The service beam may be a communication beam (referred to as a control beam) for transmitting control information, a communication beam (referred to as a data beam) for transmitting data, or another communication beam. In an exemplary embodiment, the serving beams 1103 may include a transmit beam transmitted from the base station 106 and a receive beam tuned to by the UE102, and may include a transmit beam transmitted by the UE102 and a receive beam tuned to by the UE 102. BPL 1105 is intended to depict two-way communication between UE102 and base station 106 using a combination of transmit and receive beams that cooperate to create a two-way communication link. In an exemplary embodiment, the serving beam 1103 may be one of a plurality of directional communication beams configured to operably couple the UE102 to the base station 106. In an exemplary embodiment, the serving beams 1103 and BPL 1105 can provide the most robust communication link between the UE102 and the base station 106 at a given time.

In an exemplary embodiment, other serving beams may also be established between the UE102 and the base station 106. For example, serving beam 1107 may establish BPL 1109 between UE102 and base station 106; and serving beam 1111 may establish BPL 1113 between UE102 and base station 106.

In an exemplary embodiment, one or more target or candidate beams may also be used to provide a communication link between the UE102 and the base station 106. In an exemplary embodiment, the candidate beam 1115 represents one of a plurality of available candidate beams and is shown with a dashed line to indicate that it is not actively providing an operable communication link between the UE102 and the base station 106. In an example embodiment, the candidate beams 1115 may include transmit and receive beams generated by the base station 106 and the UE102, which may together form the candidate beams 1115.

Fig. 11B is a diagram 1100 of a communication system including a base station 106 and a UE102 for use in wireless communications, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Fig. 11B shows a partial beam pair link failure. For example, in fig. 11B, BPL 1105 and BPL 1109 experience RLF because they cannot continue to establish and maintain a radio communication link between UE102 and base station 106. However, the serving beam 1155 and the BPL 1157 are still established between the UE102 and the base station 106, thereby causing the term "partial" BPL to be lost because the communication between the UE102 and the base station 106 is still available on at least one communication beam (i.e., in this example, the serving beam 1155 and the BPL 1157).

Existing beam failure recovery procedures deal with the situation when all service control beams fail. The new candidate beam is identified based solely on the transmission of periodic reference signals (e.g., channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) or Synchronization Signal (SS) periods) from the base station 106 to the UE102 because the UE102 cannot communicate with the base station 106 until a new candidate beam is found and the communication is switched to the new candidate beam. In this prior approach, after beam failure detection, the candidate beam identification is delayed by at least one communication cycle because the UE must wait for the next periodic opportunity to search for the candidate beam. Multiple Uplink (UL) resources must be reserved for the beam failure recovery request so that the base station can perform Receive (RX) beam scanning in and across different directions to receive the request.

In an exemplary embodiment, an efficient process for handling partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss is described in which a subset of the control beams fail, but in which at least one control beam is still available for communication between the UE102 and the base station 106. In an exemplary embodiment, multiple steering beams are supported in the 5G NR to obtain robustness against beam failure.

Partial BPL loss recovery is advantageous in recovery time over existing beam failure recovery procedures because for partial BPL loss there is at least one well-controlled BPL that the UE can use to inform the base station and immediately trigger the beam recovery procedure without waiting for a signal from the base station that will be delayed by the at least one communication cycle described above.

Partial BPL loss recovery is also advantageous in saving resources because the UE may immediately transmit the newly identified BPL to the base station using the good remaining control BPL without reserving multiple Uplink (UL) resources at the base station for RX beam scanning in order to receive beam failure recovery requests that the UE sends to the base station over the remaining good BPL.

In an exemplary embodiment, for partial BPL loss, there is at least one well-controlled BPL that allows the UE to inform the base station (gNB) and immediately trigger the beam recovery procedure in the partial BPL loss condition.

In an exemplary embodiment, new candidate beams may be identified more quickly using the proposed scheme in case of partial BPL loss than existing procedures for beam failure recovery.

In an exemplary embodiment, instead of waiting for the next channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) or Synchronization Signal (SS) period, the UE may notify the base station (gNB) of information about partial BPL loss using the remaining good BPL immediately after the failure detection, and then the UE may expect the base station (gNB) to schedule the aperiodic CSI-RS for candidate beam search. As used herein, the term "aperiodic" refers to a base station scheduling CSI-RS for candidate beam search immediately after receiving a loss indication from a UE, and not waiting for normal periodically occurring CSI-RS events.

In an exemplary embodiment, the UE may notify the base station of the detected partial BPL loss by transmitting a specific Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) communication similar to a Scheduling Request (SR) defined for the partial BPL loss indication.

In an exemplary embodiment, whenever the UE detects a loss of partial BPL, the UE may notify the base station of the detected loss of partial BPL, allowing the UE to initiate aperiodic beam reporting by the UE as long as the loss of partial BPL is detected. The aperiodic beam report may be carried, for example, by a PUCCH signal or by an Uplink (UL) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) in Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) communications from the UE.

The UE may send a BPL addition request with new beam information. The BPL addition request may be defined as a specific PUCCH signal similar to a Scheduling Request (SR), but with other bits for indicating new beam information.

In another exemplary embodiment, the UE may use a special PUCCH signal similar to SR, but with additional bits for both acquiring the partial BPL loss indication and the BPL addition request to initiate a switch of the communication beam to the candidate beam.

Fig. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a method for communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The blocks of method 1200 may or may not be performed in the order shown, and in some embodiments, the blocks of method 1200 may be performed at least partially in parallel.

In block 1202, the UE performs communication beam failure detection.

In block 1204, a determination is made by the UE whether any of the communication control beams are malfunctioning.

If it is determined in block 1204 that there is no control beam failure, the process returns to block 1202 where the UE continues to perform communication beam failure detection. If it is determined in block 1204 that any of the control beams has failed, the process passes to block 1206.

In block 1206, the UE determines whether at least one control beam is still available for communicating with the base station. If in block 1206 the UE determines that no remaining control beams are available for communication with the base station, the process passes to block 1208, in block 1208 the UE follows the existing beam failure recovery procedure (where in this case all communication beams have failed).

If, in block 1206, the UE determines that there is at least one control beam available for communication with the base station, the process passes to block 1210.

In block 1210, the UE may explicitly or implicitly notify the base station of the partial BPL loss using at least one available communication control beam.

For example, the UE may explicitly or implicitly notify the base station of the partial BPL loss so that the base station may take further action for beam management. As used herein, the term "explicit notification" refers to the UE explicitly notifying the base station of a partial BPL loss event on its own initiative and without waiting for a periodic CSI-RS or SS signal from the base station.

The term "implicit notification" may cover many mechanisms, e.g., the notification may be a request by the UE for the base station to trigger aperiodic CSI-RS and/or aperiodic beam reporting, etc.

In an exemplary embodiment, at least two options are proposed for the UE to send such "explicit or implicit" notification to the base station of the partial BPL loss.

In an exemplary embodiment, a new PUCCH format similar to a Scheduling Request (SR) may be specified for the notification in the physical layer.

In an exemplary embodiment, a generic PUCCH request signal may be used to cover the UE's request. In LTE, only one request signal is defined in PUCCH: SR for requesting grant of UL resources. In 5GNR, the UE may send UL requests for different purposes. Such as SR, partial BPL loss indication signal, beam refinement request, aperiodic beam report request, beam failure recovery request, and so on.

In an exemplary embodiment, the UE may send a partial BPL loss indication to the base station using an on-off PUCCH signal with information bits indicating different request types. The PUCCH signal may also carry additional bits to convey other relevant information, e.g., an index indicating a new beam index in the case of a beam failure recovery request, or an index indicating a failed BPL in the case of a partial loss indication.

In an exemplary embodiment, the UE may use on-off PUCCH signals with different signal sequences (e.g., using different cyclic shifts) to indicate different request types. Periodic PUCCH resources may be reserved for the UE to send appropriate requests, if needed. For example, the UE may be assigned different cyclic shifts, and each cyclic shift may correspond to one or more of the following PUCCH request types: SR, partial BPL loss indication, beam refinement request, aperiodic beam report request, beam failure recovery request, and the like.

In another exemplary embodiment, the UE may send an "explicit or implicit" notification to the base station of the loss of partial BPL using a new Uplink (UL) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), where the new UL MAC CE for the notification may be specified in the MAC layer. Such UL MAC CE can trigger SR similar to BSR MAC CE so that it can be transmitted in time with the allocated PUSCH resource. For this option, the change is implemented in the MAC layer and not in the physical layer.

In block 1214, in an exemplary embodiment, after receiving the BPL loss notification from the UE, the base station may send an aperiodic CSI-RS transmission and trigger an aperiodic beam report from the UE.

In block 1216, in an exemplary embodiment, after receiving the BPL loss notification from the UE, the base station may trigger an aperiodic beam report from the UE based on the periodic CSI-RS signal or the periodic SS signal.

In block 1218, in an exemplary embodiment, after receiving the BPL loss notification from the UE, the base station may update at least some of its configuration, with the process returning to block 1208 thereafter. For example, the base station may reduce the periodicity (periodicity) or transmission frequency of the SS signals or CSI-RS signals so that the UE may find new candidate beams more quickly when performing the beam failure recovery procedure indicated by block 1208.

In block 1222, after receiving an aperiodic CSI-RS transmission from a base station (block 1214) or a request for an aperiodic beam report based on periodic CSI-RS signals or periodic SS signals from the base station (block 1216), the UE sends a beam status report with new beam information to the base station.

In block 1224, the base station transmits a new BPL addition message to the UE based on the UE beam status report transmitted in block 1222.

The steps in blocks 1210, 1214, 1216, 1218, 1222, and 1224 all occur on one of the well-controlled BPLs.

There are many possible options to handle partial BPL loss.

In an exemplary embodiment (alternative 1) referring to blocks 1210, 1214, 1222, and 1224(a, b1, c, d) of fig. 12, upon receiving a BPL loss notification for a UE, the base station schedules an aperiodic CSI-RS transmission for the UE to perform a candidate beam search, and the base station also triggers the UE to perform aperiodic beam status reporting at a specified time after the aperiodic CSI-RS transmission. In this embodiment, candidate beams may be found and reported to the base station immediately without waiting for the next periodic CSI-RS or SS opportunity.

In another exemplary embodiment (alternative 2) with reference to blocks 1210, 1216, 1222, and 1224 of fig. 12 (a, b2, c, d), the candidate beam search is still based on periodic CSI-RS or SS signals. However, upon receiving the UE's partial BPL loss notification, the base station triggers an aperiodic beam status report from the UE to obtain the newly identified candidate beam from the UE. In the exemplary embodiment, the newly identified candidate beams are reported by the UE using the control BPL that has not failed, so the base station does not need to perform an RX beam scan to receive the beam report message from the UE. This approach is useful in case the next periodic CSI-RS or SS opportunity is close, so there is no long delay if the UE waits for such next periodic CSI-RS or SS opportunity from the base station.

In another exemplary embodiment (alternative 3) with reference to blocks 1210, 1218, 1222, and 1224 of fig. 12 (a, b3, c, d), the existing beam failure recovery procedure is reused. However, upon receiving the UE's partial BPL loss notification, the base station may update some of its configuration (block 1218) so that the recovery process may be completed more efficiently. For example, the base station may reduce the periodicity of the CSI-RS signal or the SS signal so that candidate beams may be found more quickly. The base station may also update the PRACH configuration for the beam failure recovery request.

In another exemplary embodiment (alternative 4), the UE may use only the existing beam failure recovery procedure.

Upon detecting the loss of the partial BPL, the UE may decide whether to send a notification to the base station. If the UE sends a notification to the base station, the base station may determine, based on its status, to employ the method of blocks 1214, 1222, 1224 (alternative 1); blocks 1216, 1222, 1224 (alternative 2); also blocks 1218, 1222, 1224 (alternative 3). For example, alternative 1 may be used if the time to the next periodic CSI-RS or SS opportunity exceeds a threshold.

Alternative 2 may be used if the time to the next periodic CSI-RS or SS opportunity is below a threshold.

Alternative 3 may be used if the base station cannot schedule aperiodic CSI-RS or trigger beam reporting due to certain constraints.

If none of alternatives 1, 2 or 3 are feasible, the UE may use the existing beam failure recovery procedure.

In an exemplary embodiment, the base station may identify the Downlink (DL) non-failing control BPL, e.g., using the base station RX beam on which the BPL loss indication for the UE is transmitted, by a "beam reciprocity case," or by a "non-beam reciprocity case" (where in this case, the beam is the DL beam associated with the BPL on which the BPL loss indication for the UE is transmitted).

Fig. 13 is a functional block diagram of an apparatus 1300 for a communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The apparatus 1300 comprises a unit 1302 for performing beam failure detection. In certain embodiments, the means for performing beam failure detection 1302 may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described in operational block 1202 of the method 1200 (fig. 12). In an example embodiment, the means 1302 for performing beam failure detection may include: the UE 650 performs beam failure detection using, for example, the controller/processor 659, the memory 660, the RX processor 656, the receiver 654, and related circuitry (fig. 6).

The apparatus 1300 further comprises: a unit 1304 for determining whether any communication control beam is malfunctioning. In certain embodiments, the means for determining whether any communication control beams have failed 1304 may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described in operation block 1204 of the method 1200 (fig. 12). In an example embodiment, the means 1304 for determining whether any communication control beam is malfunctioning may include: the UE 650 performs beam failure detection using, for example, the controller/processor 659, the memory 660, the RX processor 656, the receiver 654, and related circuitry (fig. 6).

The apparatus 1300 further comprises: means for determining if at least one communication control beam is available 1306. In some embodiments, the means 1306 for determining whether at least one communication control beam is available may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described in operation block 1206 of method 1200 (fig. 12). In an example embodiment, means 1306 for determining whether at least one communication control beam is available may include: the UE 650 determines which control beam is available using, for example, the controller/processor 659, the memory 660, the RX processor 656, the receiver 654, and associated circuitry (fig. 6).

The apparatus 1300 further comprises: means for following an existing beam failure recovery procedure 1308. In certain embodiments, the means for following an existing beam failure recovery procedure 1308 may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described in operational block 1208 of the method 1200 (fig. 12). In an exemplary embodiment, the means 1308 for following an existing beam failure recovery procedure may include: the UE 650 follows the existing beam failure recovery procedure using, for example, the controller/processor 659, the memory 660, the RX processor 656, the receiver 654, and related circuitry (fig. 6).

The apparatus 1300 further comprises: means 1310 for explicitly or implicitly notifying the base station of the loss of BPL using at least one available control beam. In certain embodiments, the means 1310 for explicitly or implicitly notifying the base station of the loss of BPL using the at least one available control beam may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described in operation block 1210 of the method 1200 (fig. 12). In an example embodiment, the means 1310 for explicitly or implicitly notifying the base station of the loss of BPL using at least one available control beam may comprise: the UE 650 transmits a partial BPL loss to the base station via the existing control beam using the exemplary controller/processor 659, memory 660, RX processor 656, receiver 654, TX processor 668, transmitter 654 and associated circuitry (fig. 6).

The apparatus 1300 further comprises: means 1314 for scheduling aperiodic CSI-RS transmissions and triggering aperiodic beam status reports from the UEs. In certain embodiments, the means 1314 for scheduling aperiodic CSI-RS transmission and triggering aperiodic beam status report from the UE may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described in operational block 1214 of the method 1200 (fig. 12). In an example embodiment, the means 1314 for scheduling aperiodic CSI-RS transmissions and triggering aperiodic beam status reports from the UE may include: the base station 610 schedules the aperiodic CSI-RS transmission using, for instance, the controller/processor 675, the memory 676, the TX processor 616, the transmitter 618, and related circuitry (fig. 6).

The apparatus 1300 further comprises: means 1316 for triggering aperiodic beam status report from the UE based on the periodic CSI-RS or SS. In certain embodiments, the means 1316 for triggering aperiodic beam status report from the UE based on periodic CSI-RS or SS may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described in operation block 1216 of the method 1200 (fig. 12). In an example embodiment, the means 1316 for triggering aperiodic beam status report from the UE based on periodic CSI-RS or SS may include: the base station 610 utilizes the periodic CSI-RS or SS to trigger aperiodic beam status reports from the UE using, for example, the controller/processor 675, the memory 676, the TX processor 616, the transmitter 618, and related circuitry (fig. 6).

The apparatus 1300 further comprises: means 1318 for updating the configuration. In certain embodiments, the means for updating the configuration 1318 may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described in operation block 1218 of the method 1200 (fig. 12). In an exemplary embodiment, the means 1318 for updating the configuration may include: the base station 610 may update one or more configurations using, for example, the controller/processor 675, the memory 676, the TX processor 616, the transmitter 618, the controller/processor 659, the memory 660, the TX processor 668, the transmitter 654, and related circuitry (fig. 6).

The apparatus 1300 further comprises: means 1322 for transmitting the beam status report with the new beam information. In some embodiments, means 1322 for transmitting a beam report with new beam information may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described in operational block 1222 of method 1200 (fig. 12). In an exemplary embodiment, the means 1322 for transmitting the beam status report with the new beam information may include: after receiving an aperiodic CSI-RS transmission from the base station (block 1314) or after receiving a request for an aperiodic beam report based on periodic CSI-RS signals or periodic SS signals from the base station (block 1316), the UE 650 sends the beam report with the new beam information to the base station using, for example, the controller/processor 659, the memory 660, the RX processor 656, the receiver 654, and related circuitry (fig. 6).

The apparatus 1300 further comprises: means 1324 for transmitting a new BPL addition message based on the UE beam status report. In certain embodiments, the means 1324 for sending the new BPL addition message based on the UE beam status report may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described in operational block 1224 of the method 1200 (fig. 12). In an exemplary embodiment, the means 1324 for transmitting the new BPL addition message based on the UE beam status report may include: the base station 610 may send the new BPL information to the UE using, for example, the controller/processor 675, the memory 676, the TX processor 616, the transmitter 618, the controller/processor 659, the memory 660, the TX processor 668, the transmitter 654, and related circuitry (fig. 6).

In an exemplary embodiment, the multiple control links may be from different cells or base stations for the access network. For example, a UE may have multiple links through different technologies (e.g., Carrier Aggregation (CA), dual connectivity, etc.). For integrated access and backhaul, a backhaul node may be connected with multiple nodes to improve the robustness of the communication channel. For partial BPL loss that occurs in a multi-node environment, a node with a good link may assist the node with the failed link in beam recovery.

Fig. 14 is a call flow diagram 1400 for a communication system in accordance with various aspects of the disclosure. Call flow diagram 1400 shows a UE 1402 (referred to as UEF), where UE 1402 may refer to a UE associated with an access network or a backhaul network. The first node (node 11406) may be coupled to the UEF1402 and to the second node (node 21407). As shown in fig. 14, the communication link between UEF1402 and node 11406 fails. The first node (node 11406) and the second node (node 21407) may be communication devices (e.g., base stations or other communication devices).

In this exemplary embodiment, the node with a good communication link (node 21407) assists the node with a failed link (node 11406) in beam recovery.

In call 1410, the UEF1402 notifies node 21407 that the UEF and node 11406 lost BPL.

In call 1412, node 21407 forwards the BPL loss notification to node 11406.

In call 1414, node 11406 responds with a resource allocation for CSI-RS communication for beam search.

In call 1416, node 21407 performs cross node scheduling of aperiodic CSI-RS and triggers beam status reporting for node 11406.

In call 1418, node 11406 sends an aperiodic CSI-RS transmission to UEF1402 to perform beam scanning.

In process 1420, the UEF1402 identifies a candidate communication beam for the node 11406.

In call 1422, UEF1402 sends a beam status report with the candidate beam for node 11406 to node 21407.

In call 1424, node 21407 forwards the beam report to node 11406.

In call 1426, node 11406 responds to node 21407 with a new BPL add communication.

In call 1428, node 21407 sends a new BPL add message to node 11406 to UEF 1402.

In the call 1430, the UEF1402 and node 11406 now communicate through the newly added BPL.

As shown in fig. 14, steps 1210, 1214, 1222, and 1224 of fig. 12 (alternative 1) are completed between the UEF1402 and node 21407 of the good link to help establish a new link between the UEF1402 and node 11406. In this exemplary embodiment, the node with a good link (node 21407) supports message reception and transmission with the UEF1402 for the node with a failed link (node 11406). The node with the good link exchanges information with the node of the failed link for beam recovery.

Fig. 15 is a call flow diagram 1500 for a communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Call flow diagram 1500 shows UEF1402, a first node (node 11406), and a second node (node 21407). As shown in fig. 15, the communication link between UEF1402 and node 11406 fails.

In this exemplary embodiment, the node with a good communication link (node 21407) assists the node with a failed link (node 11406) in beam recovery.

In call 1510, the UE f1402 notifies the UE 21407 of the loss of BPL for the UE f and node 11406.

In call 1512, node 21407 forwards the BPL loss notification to node 11406.

In call 1514, node 11406 responds with a resource allocation for CSI-RS communications for beam search.

In call 1516, node 21407 triggers UEF1402 to generate an aperiodic beam status report for node 11406.

In call 1518, node 11406 sends a periodic CSI-RS transmission or an SS transmission to the UEF to perform beam scanning.

In process 1520, UEF1402 identifies a candidate communication beam for node 11406.

In call 1522, UEF1402 sends a beam status report with the candidate beam for node 11406 to node 21407.

In call 1524, node 21407 forwards the beam status report to node 11406.

In call 1526, node 11406 responds to node 21407 with a new BPL add communication.

In call 1528, node 21407 sends a new BPL add message to UEF1402 for node 11406.

In the call 1530, the UEF1402 and node 11406 now communicate through the newly added BPL.

As shown in fig. 15, steps 1210, 1216, 1222, and 1224 of fig. 12 (alternative 2) are performed similar to the steps shown in fig. 14, except that in fig. 15, the node with a good link (node 21407) does not perform cross node scheduling of aperiodic CSI-RS transmission.

Fig. 16 is a call flow diagram 1600 for a communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Call flow diagram 1600 shows UEF1402, a first node (node 11406), and a second node (node 21407). As shown in fig. 16, the communication link between UEF1402 and node 11406 fails.

In this exemplary embodiment, the node with a good communication link (node 21407) assists the node with a failed link (node 11406) in beam recovery.

In call 1610, the UE f1402 notifies the UE 21407 of the loss of BPL for the UE f and node 11406.

In call 1612, node 21407 forwards the BPL loss notification to node 11406.

In call 1614, node 11406 updates the configuration for the beam failure recovery procedure.

In call 1616, node 21407 relays the 1406 update configuration of node 1 to UEF 1402.

In call 1618, the UEF1402 and node 11406 perform beam failure recovery according to the updated configuration.

As shown in fig. 16, steps 1210, 1218, 1222, and 1224 of fig. 12 (alternative 3) are performed such that the node with a good link (node 21407) assists the node with a failed link (node 11406) by forwarding the loss indication from the UEF1402 and relaying the updated configuration to the UEF 1402. There is no cross scheduling between the node with a good link (node 21407) and the node with a failed link (node 11406) and there is little coordination and less delay.

Fig. 17 is a diagram for a communication system 1700 in accordance with various aspects of the disclosure. Communication system 1700 shows UEF 1702, node 11706, node 21707, node 31708, and node 41709. In this example, the node with a good link may also contact other standby nodes that may be in power save mode to participate in the beam failure recovery process. For example, after receiving a BPL loss indication between the UEF 1702 and node 11706, node 21707 may wake up the standby node 31708 and node 41709 and request them to transmit SS signals more frequently so that the UEF 1702 has more opportunities to identify candidate beams.

Fig. 18 is a call flow diagram 1800 for a communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Call flow diagram 1800 shows UE 1802 in communication with base station 1806.

In the call 1810, the UE 1802 notifies the base station 1806 that the UE has lost BPL with the base station 1806.

In call 1818, the base station may schedule an aperiodic CSI-RS to the UE and trigger an aperiodic beam report from the UE. Alternatively, the base station may trigger aperiodic beam reporting from the UE based on periodic CSI-RS or SS.

In the call 1822, the UE 1802 sends a beam status report with the candidate beam to the base station 1806.

In call 1826, the base station sends a new BPL addition message to UE 1802.

In the call 1830, the UE 1802 and base station 1806 now communicate through the newly added BPL.

In an exemplary embodiment, partial BPL loss recovery uses at least one well-controlled BPL for the UE to communicate with the base station. With this well-controlled BPL, the aperiodic CSI-RS may be triggered immediately after detecting the loss of BPL to enable the UE to search for a new candidate beam without waiting for the next periodic CSI-RS or SS opportunity.

In an exemplary embodiment, for partial BPL loss recovery, the recovery request message may be sent with good BPL in, for example, PUCCH communication, and the network only needs to reserve an amount of Uplink (UL) resources corresponding to the number of serving control beams.

It is desirable to handle as much of the BPL loss as possible in the existing framework of beam management. The existing beam management framework defines procedures for beam determination, beam measurement, beam reporting, and beam scanning, but all of these procedures are triggered and controlled by the network.

In an exemplary embodiment, a UE-initiated request message may be specified in layer 1 or layer 2 to explicitly or implicitly notify the base station of the partial BPL loss and to request further beam management procedures immediately after the UE performs the partial BPL loss detection.

In an exemplary embodiment, a base station operating in a 5G or NR environment may support a UE-initiated request message in layer 1 or layer 2 to cause the UE to explicitly or implicitly notify the base station of a partial BPL loss and further request a beam management step. For the case of partial BPL loss, the UE may send a partial BPL loss recovery request message using, for example, PUCCH communication using good BPL. The network may reserve a number of UL resources corresponding to the number of serving control beams so that the UE may send a request using one of the resources corresponding to a good BPL.

In an exemplary embodiment, a base station operating in a 5G or NR environment may reserve the number of UL resources corresponding to the number of serving control beams. The UE may send the partial BPL loss recovery request message using UL resources corresponding to good BPL, for example, in PUCCH communication. In LTE, only one request signal, which is a Scheduling Request (SR) for requesting UL grant, is defined in PUCCH. However, in 5G or NR with beam management, there may be other different request types of requests in addition to SR, for example, a request for partial BPL loss recovery, a beam refinement request, a beam failure recovery request on PUCCH. A new PUCCH format may be designed to indicate different request types initiated by the UE. Since the request message is triggered by the UE based on certain trigger conditions, the request message should be a switch-on signal in order to save UE power.

In an exemplary embodiment, a base station operating in a 5G or NR environment may support the design of a new on-off PUCCH format to indicate different request messages initiated by the UE, one of which is related to recovery of partial BPL loss.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such as CDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), and so on. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 releases 0 and A are commonly referred to as CDMA 20001 x, 1x, etc. IS-856(TIA-856) IS commonly referred to as CDMA 20001 xEV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), and so on. UTRA includes wideband CDMA (wcdma) and other CDMA variations. TDMA systems may implement radio technologies such as global system for mobile communications (GSM). The OFDMA system may implement radio technologies such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16(WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, and so on. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-advanced (LTE-A) are new versions of UMTS that employ E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "third Generation partnership project" (3 GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named "third generation partnership project 2" (3GPP 2). The techniques described herein may be used for the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies, as well as other systems and radio technologies, including unlicensed and/or cellular (e.g., LTE) communication over a shared bandwidth. Although an LTE/LTE-a system is described for purposes of example, and LTE terminology is used in much of the above description, the techniques may be applicable beyond LTE/LTE-a applications.

The detailed description set forth above in connection with the appended drawings describes some examples, but it is not intended to represent all examples that may be practiced, nor to represent all examples that may fall within the scope of the claims. When the words "exemplary" and "example" are used in this specification, they mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration," and not "preferred" or "advantageous over" the other examples. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the described technology. However, the techniques may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the present disclosure may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a number of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope and spirit of the disclosure and the following claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardware wiring, or any combination thereof. Features used to implement a function may be physically distributed over several locations, including being distributed over different physical locations to implement a portion of a function. As used herein (including in the claims), when the word "and/or" is used in a list of two or more items, it means that any one of the listed items, or any combination of two or more of the listed items, may be used. For example, if a complex is described as containing component A, B and/or C, the complex can contain only A; only B is contained; only C is contained; a combination of A and B; a combination of A and C; a combination of B and C; or a combination of A, B and C. Further, as used herein (which includes the claims), "or" as used in one list item (e.g., a list item prefixed with a phrase such as "at least one of" or "one or more of") indicates a separate list, such that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B or C" means: a or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C).

Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Further, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

As used in this application, the terms "component," "database," "module," "system," and the like are intended to include a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being: a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

While aspects and embodiments have been described herein through the illustration of some examples, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that additional implementations and use cases may be implemented in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovations described herein may be implemented across a number of different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, packaging arrangements. For example, embodiments and/or uses may be realized by integrating chip embodiments with other non-modular component based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial devices, retail/purchase devices, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc.). While some examples may or may not be specific to use cases or applications, a wide variety of applicability of the described innovations may occur. Implementations may range from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and may also be aggregated, distributed, or OEM devices or systems that incorporate one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some practical settings, a device incorporating the described aspects and features may also include other components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described embodiments. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals must include a number of components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders/accumulators, etc.). The innovations described herein may be practiced in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, end-user devices, and the like, having different sizes, shapes, and configurations.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims (30)

1. A method for communication, comprising:

determining whether any of a plurality of communication control beams is malfunctioning;

identifying at least one active communication control beam of the plurality of communication control beams; and

transmitting a partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) lost communication on the at least one active communication control beam.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

scheduling aperiodic channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) communication and triggering aperiodic beam state reports upon receiving the partial beam-to-link (BPL) lost communication;

transmitting the beam status report with new beam information; and

transmitting a new BPL addition message based on the beam status report.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

triggering an aperiodic beam status report upon receiving the partial beam-to-link (BPL) lost communication, wherein measurements are based on at least one of periodic channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) communication and periodic Synchronization Signal (SS) communication;

transmitting the beam status report with new beam information; and

transmitting a new BPL addition message based on the beam status report.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon receiving the partial beam-to-link (BPL) lost communication, updating the base station configuration and following a beam failure recovery procedure.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the partial beam-to-link (BPL) loss communications on the at least one active communication control beam are transmitted using Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) communications.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the partial beam-to-link (BPL) loss communications on the at least one active communication control beam are transmitted using an Uplink (UL) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) in Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) communications.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss communication is transmitted on behalf of a communication device on a first node to a communication device on a second node, the communication device on the first node experiencing the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the communication device on the second node notifies the communication device on the first node of the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss.

9. A system for communication, comprising:

a User Equipment (UE) configured to determine whether any one of a plurality of communication control beams is malfunctioning;

the UE is configured to identify at least one active communication control beam of the plurality of communication control beams; and

the UE is configured to transmit a partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss communication on the at least one active communication control beam.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

upon receiving the partial beam-to-link (BPL) loss communication, the base station is configured to schedule aperiodic channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) communication and to trigger an aperiodic beam state report from the UE;

the UE is configured to transmit the beam status report with new beam information to the base station; and

the base station is configured to transmit a new BPL addition message to the UE based on the beam status report.

11. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

upon receiving the partial beam-to-link (BPL) loss communication, a base station configured to trigger an aperiodic beam status report from the UE, wherein measurements are based on at least one of periodic channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) communication and periodic Synchronization Signal (SS) communication;

the UE is configured to transmit the beam status report with new beam information to the base station; and

the base station is configured to transmit a new BPL addition message to the UE based on the beam status report.

12. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

upon receiving the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss communication, a base station is configured to update the base station configuration and follow a beam failure recovery procedure.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the partial beam-to-link (BPL) loss communications on the at least one active communication control beam are transmitted using Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) communications.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the partial beam-to-link (BPL) loss communications on the at least one active communication control beam are transmitted using an Uplink (UL) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) in Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) communications.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss communication is transmitted on behalf of a communication device on a first node to a communication device on a second node, the communication device on the first node experiencing the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the communication device on the second node notifies the communication device on the first node of the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss with the UE.

17. A method for communication, comprising:

determining whether any of a plurality of communication control beams is malfunctioning;

identifying at least one active communication control beam of the plurality of communication control beams; and

transmitting partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) lost communications when a partial BPL loss occurs between a first communication device and a first communication node, the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) lost communications occurring between the first communication device and a second communication node representing the first communication node experiencing the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss with the first communication device.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

scheduling aperiodic channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) communication and triggering aperiodic beam state reports upon receiving the partial beam-to-link (BPL) lost communication;

transmitting the beam status report with new beam information; and

transmitting a new BPL addition message based on the beam status report.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

triggering an aperiodic beam status report upon receiving the partial beam-to-link (BPL) lost communication, wherein measurements are based on at least one of periodic channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) communication and periodic Synchronization Signal (SS) communication;

transmitting the beam status report with new beam information; and

transmitting a new BPL addition message based on the beam status report.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

upon receiving the partial beam-to-link (BPL) lost communication, updating the base station configuration and following a beam failure recovery procedure.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

transmitting the partial beam-to-link (BPL) lost communication on the at least one active communication control beam using Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) communication.

22. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

performing the partial beam-to-link (BPL) loss communication on the at least one active communication control beam using an Uplink (UL) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) in a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) communication.

23. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

the second communication node notifies the first communication node of the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss.

24. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code for communication, the code executable by a processor for:

determining whether any of a plurality of communication control beams is malfunctioning;

identifying at least one active communication control beam of the plurality of communication control beams; and

transmitting a partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) lost communication on the at least one active communication control beam.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the code is executable by a processor to:

scheduling aperiodic channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) communication and triggering aperiodic beam state reports upon receiving the partial beam-to-link (BPL) lost communication;

transmitting the beam status report with new beam information; and

transmitting a new BPL addition message based on the beam status report.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the code is executable by a processor to:

triggering an aperiodic beam status report upon receiving the partial beam-to-link (BPL) lost communication, wherein measurements are based on at least one of periodic channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) communication and periodic Synchronization Signal (SS) communication;

transmitting the beam status report with new beam information; and

transmitting a new BPL addition message based on the beam status report.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the code is executable by a processor to:

upon receiving the partial beam-to-link (BPL) lost communication, updating the base station configuration and following a beam failure recovery procedure.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the code is executable by a processor to:

transmitting the partial beam-to-link (BPL) lost communication on the at least one active communication control beam using Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) communication.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the code is executable by a processor to:

transmitting the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) lost communication on the at least one active communication control beam using an Uplink (UL) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) in a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) communication.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the code is executable by a processor to:

transmitting the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss communication on behalf of a communication device on a first node to a communication device on a second node, the communication device on the first node experiencing the partial Beam Pair Link (BPL) loss.