CN113242595A

CN113242595A - Timing advance for beamforming systems

Info

Publication number: CN113242595A
Application number: CN202110530378.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 牛华宁; 朱源; 苗洪雷; 李庆华; 昌文婷; 张羽书; 黄敏; 郭辉; 王国童
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2016-07-29
Filing date: 2017-07-28
Publication date: 2021-08-10
Anticipated expiration: 2037-07-28
Also published as: CN109417765A; WO2018023086A1; CN113242595B

Abstract

An apparatus of a User Equipment (UE) is described. The apparatus may include a first circuit, a second circuit, and a third circuit. The first circuitry is operable to determine a preferred UE beam. The second circuitry is operable to generate a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission associated with the preferred eNB beam for transmission on the preferred UE beam. The third circuitry is operable to process a Random Access Response (RAR) transmission carrying a Timing Advance (TA) received over a preferred UE beam. The apparatus may also include an interface to send a PRACH transmission to the transmit circuitry and to receive a RAR transmission from the receive circuitry.

Description

Timing advance for beamforming systems

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The application is a divisional application of an invention patent application with the international application number of PCT/US2017/044540, the international application date of 2017, 28 th month 7 and 2018, the Chinese state entering stage at 29 th month 12 and 2018, the Chinese state application number of 201780041249.9 and the invention name of timing advance for a beam forming system.

Priority request

This application claims the priority OF patent Cooperation treaty International patent application No. PCT/CN2016/092285 entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TA ADJUSTMENT FOR BEAM FORMING SYSTEM" filed on 29/7/2016 and patent Cooperation treaty International patent application No. PCT/CN2017/077097 entitled "REDUCTION OF USER EQUIPMENT (UE) SIDE INTER-PANEL INTERFERENCE" filed on 17/3/2017, which are all incorporated herein by reference.

Background

Various wireless cellular communication systems have been implemented including third generation partnership project (3GPP) universal mobile telecommunications systems, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, and 3GPP LTE-advanced (LTE-a) systems. Next generation wireless cellular communication systems based on LTE and LTE-a systems, such as a fifth generation (5G) wireless system/5G mobile network system, are being developed. Next generation wireless cellular communication systems may provide support for higher bandwidths in part by supporting beamforming.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be understood more fully from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of various embodiments of the disclosure. However, while the drawings are for purposes of illustration and understanding, they are merely helpful in nature and should not be construed to limit the disclosure to the specific embodiments described herein.

Fig. 1 illustrates a scenario of various times of arrival of different beam pair links, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 illustrates a Timing Advance (TA) estimation method of an initial access phase according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 illustrates a TA estimation method for an initial access phase according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 illustrates a scenario of TA measurement error for a non-reciprocal system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 illustrates a two-step TA measurement method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 illustrates a message 3(Msg3) frame structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 illustrates a Msg3 frame structure, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 illustrates a beam aggregation scenario in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 illustrates a scenario of inter-panel interference (IPI) in beam aggregation, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 10 illustrates a memory structure for a channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 illustrates a TA indication structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 12 illustrates an evolved node b (enb) and a User Equipment (UE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 13 illustrates hardware processing circuitry of a UE for beam-specific TA adjustment and TA measurement for non-reciprocal beamforming systems, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 14 illustrates hardware processing circuitry of a UE for reducing inter-panel self-interference for multi-beam operation, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 15 illustrates a method of beam-specific TA adjustment and TA measurement for a non-reciprocal beamforming system by a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 16 illustrates a method of a UE for reducing inter-panel self-interference for multi-beam operation, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 17 illustrates example components of a device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 18 illustrates an example interface of a baseband circuit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Various wireless cellular communication systems have been implemented or proposed, including third generation partnership project (3GPP) Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, 3GPP LTE-advanced system, and fifth generation wireless system/fifth generation mobile network (5G) system/fifth generation New Radio (NR) system.

An attractive aspect of 5G systems is high-band communication. In the high frequency band, beamforming, which may include transmit (Tx) side and receive (Rx) side beamforming, may be used to enhance beamforming gain, for example, by compensating for path loss (which may be severe) and reducing mutual user interference. The obtained beamforming gain may greatly affect system capacity, system coverage, or both.

After beamforming, delay spread may be greatly reduced, so that the length of a Cyclic Prefix (CP) may be reduced and CP overhead may be advantageously reduced. However, different beams may be aligned to different channel clusters, which in turn may lead to a beam specific Timing Advance (TA). Thus, when a beam switch occurs, the TA may be adjusted accordingly.

In the case of a non-reciprocal system, the Downlink (DL) beam pattern and the Uplink (UL) beam pattern may be different. This may result in the preferred DL channel cluster being different from the preferred UL channel cluster, which in turn may imply that the transmission delay experienced by the DL may be different from the transmission delay experienced by the UL. In addition, additional errors may be introduced when the eNB derives the TA value.

Beam specific TA adjustment and TA measurement mechanisms and methods for non-reciprocal beamforming systems are discussed herein. These mechanisms and methods may advantageously help the system experience differences between the preferred DL channel cluster and the preferred UL channel cluster, and may advantageously help the system experience additional TA errors.

In addition, hybrid beamforming may be used in a high frequency band of a 5G or NR system, while analog beamforming may be used for an eNB side and a UE side. For each eNB and UE, a good Tx-Rx beam pair link may help to increase the link budget. In addition, for high frequency bands, the number of strong channel clusters may be limited, which may result in a lower rank digital precoder than that of the low frequency band (e.g., LTE). Beam aggregation may be used to improve the ranking. However, beam aggregation may be accompanied by inter-panel interference (IPI).

Discussed herein are methods and mechanisms for reducing inter-panel self-interference for multi-beam operation, where multiple beams may be from different link directions in different panels. The mechanisms and methods may include inter-eNB coordinated scheduling enhancements, and may also include UE-based IPI cancellation for multi-beam operation.

In the following description, numerous details are discussed to provide a more thorough explanation of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring embodiments of the present disclosure.

Note that in the corresponding drawings of the embodiments, signals are represented by lines. Some lines may be thicker to indicate a greater number of constituent signal paths and/or have arrows at one or more ends to indicate the direction of information flow. Such indications are not intended to be limiting. Rather, these lines are used in conjunction with one or more exemplary embodiments to facilitate easier understanding of a circuit or logic unit. Any represented signal as dictated by design needs or preferences may actually comprise one or more signals that may travel in either direction and may be implemented with any suitable type of signal scheme.

Throughout this specification, and in the claims, the term "connected" means a direct electrical, mechanical, or magnetic connection between the things that are connected, without any intermediate means. The term "coupled" means either a direct electrical, mechanical, or magnetic connection between the things that are connected, or an indirect connection through one or more passive or active intermediary devices. The term "circuit" or "module" may refer to one or more passive and/or active components arranged to cooperate with each other to provide a desired function. The term "signal" may refer to at least one current signal, voltage signal, magnetic signal, or data/clock signal. The meaning of "a", "an" and "the" includes plural references. The meaning of "in … …" includes "in … …" and "on … …".

The terms "substantially", "closely", "approximately", "almost" and "about" generally refer to within +/-10% of a target value. Unless otherwise specified, the use of the ordinal adjectives "first", "second", and "third", etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.

The terms "left," "right," "front," "back," "top," "bottom," "above … …," "below … …," and the like (if any) in this specification and in the claims are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions.

For purposes of the embodiments, the transistors in the various circuits, modules and logic blocks are tunnel fets (tfets). Some transistors of various embodiments may include Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) transistors that include drain, source, gate, and bulk terminals. Transistors may also include tri-gate and FinFET transistors, gate all-around cylindrical transistors, square or rectangular strip transistors, or other devices that implement transistor functionality, such as carbon nanotubes or spintronic devices. The symmetrical source and drain terminals of the MOSFET are the same terminals and are used interchangeably herein. TFET devices, on the other hand, have asymmetric source and drain terminals. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other transistors (e.g., bipolar junction transistors-BJTs PNP/NPN, BiCMOS, CMOS, etc.) may be used for some of the transistors without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For the purposes of this disclosure, the phrases "a and/or B" and "a or B" mean (a), (B), or (a and B). For the purposes of this disclosure, the phrase "A, B and/or C" means (a), (B), (C), (a and B), (a and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C).

In addition, the various elements of combinational and sequential logic discussed in this disclosure may all relate to physical structures (such as and, or exclusive or gates), or to a composite or optimized collection of devices implementing a logical structure that is a boolean equivalent of the logic discussed.

Additionally, for purposes of this disclosure, the term "eNB" may refer to a legacy LTE capable evolved node b (eNB), a next generation or 5G capable eNB (e.g., a gNB), a millimeter wave (mmWave) capable eNB or mmWave small cell, an Access Point (AP), a narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) capable eNB, a cellular internet of things (CIoT) capable eNB, an organic type communication (MTC) capable eNB, and/or another base station for a wireless communication system. For purposes of this disclosure, the term "UE" may refer to a legacy LTE-capable User Equipment (UE), a next generation or 5G-capable UE, a mmWave-capable UE, a Station (STA), and/or another mobile device for a wireless communication system.

Various embodiments of the eNB and/or UE discussed below may process various types of one or more transmissions. Some processing of the transmission may include demodulating, decoding, detecting, parsing, and/or otherwise handling the transmission that has been received. In some embodiments, the eNB or UE processing the transmission may determine or recognize the type of transmission and/or conditions associated with the transmission. For some embodiments, the eNB or UE handling the transmission may act according to the type of transmission and/or may act conditionally based on the type of transmission. The eNB or UE handling the transmission may also recognize one or more values or fields of data carried by the transmission. Processing the transmission may include moving the transmission through one or more layers of a protocol stack (which may be implemented in, for example, hardware and/or software configured elements), such as by moving the transmission that has been received by the eNB or UE through one or more layers of the protocol stack.

Various embodiments of the eNB and/or UE discussed below may also generate one or more transmissions of various types. Some generation of the transmission may include modulating, encoding, formatting, assembling, and/or otherwise handling the transmission to be sent. In some embodiments, the eNB or UE generating the transmission may establish the type of transmission and/or conditions associated with the transmission. For some embodiments, the eNB or UE generating the transmission may act according to the type of transmission and/or may act conditionally based on the type of transmission. The eNB or UE generating the transmission may also determine one or more values or fields of data carried by the transmission. Generating the transmission may include moving the transmission through one or more layers of a protocol stack (which may be implemented in, for example, hardware and/or software configured elements), such as by moving the transmission to be sent by the eNB or UE via one or more layers of the protocol stack.

In various embodiments, the resources may span various Resource Blocks (RBs), Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs), and/or time periods (e.g., frames, subframes, and/or slots) of the wireless communication system. In some contexts, allocated resources (e.g., channels, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFMD) symbols, subcarrier frequencies, Resource Elements (REs), and/or portions thereof) may be formatted for transmission over (and prior to transmission over) a wireless communication link. In other contexts, allocated resources (e.g., channels, OFDM symbols, subcarrier frequencies, REs, and/or portions thereof) may be detected from (and subsequent to) reception over the wireless communication link.

Fig. 1 illustrates a scenario of various times of arrival of different beam pair links, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Scenario 100 may include a wireless communication system having a first beam pair link 101 and a second beam pair link 102.

In a system of scenario 100, which may operate in one or more high frequency bands, beamforming may be used to compensate for severe path loss. First beam pair link 101 may be an active beam pair link and second beam pair link 102 may be a candidate beam pair link. Accordingly, rather than maintaining only active beam pair links, the system of scenario 100 may also support candidate beam pair links. Maintaining the candidate beam pair link, in turn, increases robustness to signal blockage and/or time varying fast fading. For example, first robustness 151 may correspond to first beam pair link 101 and second robustness 152 may correspond to second beam pair link 102.

Different beam pairs may correspond to different clusters of channels, and the arrival times of different clusters of channels may be different. In the system of scenario 100, the CP length of the beamformed channels may be designed for low overhead such that the difference between different clusters may exceed the guard interval (GP) of the CP.

Fig. 2 illustrates a TA estimation method for an initial access phase according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 200 may include scanning and selecting 210, transmitting 220, and/or detecting, estimating and transmitting 230. In scan 210, a beam scan may be performed, which may be based on a Beam Reference Signal (BRS) or another suitable signal, and a preferred Network (NW)/UE beam pair link may be selected. In transmission 220, the UE may transmit a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), which may be a 5G PRACH (xPRACH) in some embodiments. The PRACH or xPRACH may be based on the preferred UE beam acquired in scanning and selecting 210. In detection, estimation, and transmission 230, the eNB may detect PRACH or xPRACH (which may be based on the preferred NW beam acquired in scanning and selection 210). The eNB may then estimate the TA and send an indicator of the TA to the UE via Random Access Response (RAR) transmission.

According to the method 200, in some embodiments, the TA based on active beam pair measurements may be configured by the eNB and the UE may maintain the delay difference itself. For some embodiments, TA may be measured based on beam pair links, where a beam pair link may include an NW beam (which may be derived based on an association with a PRACH or xPRACH (e.g., PRACH or xPRACH resources and/or indices)) and a UE beam (which may be used for PRACH or xPRACH transmissions).

In some embodiments, the TA may be configured by the eNB along with the NW beam index, and the eNB may inform the UE which NW beam is the reference beam for TA measurement.

For some embodiments, the UE may maintain a time difference between one particular beam and the reference beam, and may update the time difference accordingly during a beam switch (e.g., switch from a candidate beam pair link to an active beam pair link). For example, if the first beam pair link is used as timing advance TA₁The UE may calculate the time difference of arrival Δ between the second beam pair link and the first beam pair link_TA. The UE may update the timing advance to Δ when a beam switch occurs to transition from a first beam-pair link to a second beam-pair link_TA+TA₁. The UE may perform such an update at and/or in the subframe where the beam switch occurred.

Fig. 3 illustrates a TA estimation method for an initial access phase according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 300 may include signaling and derivation 310, transmitting and derivation 320, and/or transmitting 330. In signaling and derivation 310, synchronization signals may be transmitted (e.g., by an eNB) with a repeated single beam, which may facilitate the UE to derive UE-side beams (e.g., for beam-pair links). In the transmission and derivation 320, the UE may repeatedly transmit PRACH or xPRACH based on the acquired UE beam, and the eNB may then derive a receive NW side beam (e.g., for beam pair link). In transmission 330, the eNB may transmit the TA and corresponding beam index (e.g., NW side beam index) to the UE through a RAR transmission.

According to the method 300, in some embodiments, at the initiating side (e.g., eNB), a single beam synchronization signal may be transmitted, which may enable the UE to detect the UE-side beam. The UE may then transmit PRACH or xPRACH based on the UE side beam, and the eNB may then transmit the TA with the beam index (e.g., index of eNB side or NW side beam).

Fig. 4 illustrates a scenario of TA measurement error for a non-reciprocal system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The first scenario 410 may include a wireless communication system having a first beam pair link 411 and a second beam pair link 412, while the second scenario 420 may include a wireless communication system having a first beam pair link 421 and a second beam pair link 422. The first scenario 410 may correspond to a DL beam scanning procedure and the second scenario 420 may correspond to a UL beam scanning procedure.

In the system of scenario 410 and/or scenario 420, in embodiments incorporating a non-reciprocal system, the beam pattern in the UL direction on the UE side may be different from the beam pattern in the DL direction on the UE side. Accordingly, the DL beam pair link and the UL beam pair link may be directed to different channel clusters, which may have TA errors. If the first cluster involves a transmission delay of t₁The second cluster involves a transmission delay of t₂Then the timing advance error may be (t)₂-t₁)/2。

Fig. 5 illustrates a two-step TA measurement method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 500 may include a first portion 510, a second portion 520, a third portion 530, a fourth portion 540, and a fifth portion 550. In a first portion 510, a PRACH or xPRACH may be transmitted by the UE 501. The eNB 502 may then measure the TA and in the second portion 520, the eNB 502 may configure the UE with the TA via RAR transmission. UE 501 may then send Msg3 in section 530. Since the TA may contain time errors due to DL beam and UL beam mismatches, the eNB 502 may estimate the TA error based on Msg3 in the fourth section 540 and may configure the UE 501 with an indicator of the time error. In the fifth portion 550, UL data may be transmitted based on the configured TA and/or the configured time error.

In some embodiments, in the fourth section 540, a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) for further TA adjustment may be added and/or incorporated in the fourth section 540.

Fig. 6 illustrates a message 3(Msg3) frame structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The first frame structure 610 may include a frame 612 having a plurality of OFDM symbols (e.g., fourteen OFDM symbols). Msg3 transmission window 614 may span a subset of the OFDM symbols of frame 612. The second frame structure 620 may include a frame 622 having a plurality of OFDM symbols, and the Msg3 transmission window 624 may span a subset of the OFDM symbols of the frame 622.

In some embodiments, frame structures such as the first frame structure 610 and the second frame structure 620 may facilitate eNB measurements of a home (identified) TA error. In Msg3 transmission window 614 and/or Msg3 transmission window 624, the first OFDM symbol and/or the last OFDM symbol may be reserved in the configured available time window for Msg3 transmission.

The eNB may detect a starting position of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) in the Msg3 using a time-domain filtering window (e.g., Msg3 transmission window 614 and/or Msg3 transmission window 624). The eNB may estimate the home TA based on the DMRS, extract one or more subsequent OFDM data symbols with the corrected home TA, and notify the UE of the home TA (e.g., in a fourth portion of the TA measurement procedure, e.g., in the fourth portion 540 of the method 500).

Fig. 7 illustrates a Msg3 frame structure, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Frame structure 710 may include a frame 712 having a plurality of OFDM symbols (e.g., fourteen OFDM symbols), and Msg3 transmission window 724 may span a subset of the OFDM symbols of frame 712. Frame structure 710 may be substantially similar to frame structure 610 and/or frame structure 620.

In some embodiments, other frame structures of Msg3 may include Msg3 data and DMRS sent with long CP and may advantageously support a fixed symbol extraction window. Different UEs may be received by different panels (e.g., different eNB panels) and may support a particular symbol extraction window for Msg3 reception.

For example, symbol number 0 may contain a full DMRS for channel estimation when the signal arrives earlier in a scenario 720 such as an earlier arrival. The eNB may then calculate the residential error and the symbols with even indices may contain the complete DMRS and/or data information, which may be used for data demodulation. Alternatively, when a signal arrives later in a scenario 740 such as a later arrival, symbols with odd indices may contain complete DMRS and/or data information, which may be used for data demodulation.

In various embodiments, the reserved guard interval may be equal to:

wherein N is₁May be the number of OFDM symbols used for Msg3 transmission (e.g., 11 OFDM symbols depicted for Msg transmission window 714); n is a radical of_CPMay be the CP length; n is a radical of_OFDMMay be an OFDM length.

In some embodiments, from the DL beam measurements, the UE may calculate the time difference (e.g., t) between the two clusters₁-t₂). For some embodiments, more than two bits of indicator may be configured by the eNB with contention resolution, where: a first value of the indicator (e.g., the value "00") may indicate that the signal arrived on time or "correct"; a second value of the indicator (e.g., a value of "01") may indicate that the signal arrival time is later; a third value of the indicator (e.g., a value of "10") may indicate that the signal arrival time is earlier. (the fourth value of the indicator,for example, the value "11" may be reserved).

For some embodiments, the UE may transmit one PRACH or xPRACH sequence during one OFDM symbol based on the TA acquired in the RAR. The NW/UE beam pair link may be acquired in PRACH or xPRACH phase. The eNB may calculate a home TA error and may indicate the home TA error to the UE. After the UE receives the second RAR, the UE may send Msg3 based on a timing adjustment derived from the two TAs (e.g., the TA obtained in the RAR and the home TA error obtained in the second RAR).

In some embodiments, the first RAR may be a simplified TA containing only a TA value, while the second RAR may contain the entire RAR field. For some embodiments, the time domain resources, frequency domain resources, and/or code resources for the additional PRACH or xPRACH transmission may be configured by the eNB or may be predetermined.

Fig. 8 illustrates a beam aggregation scenario in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Scenario 800 may include a first eNB 810, a second eNB 820, and a UE 830. The first eNB 810 may be a serving eNB while the second eNB 820 may be an assistant eNB. The UE 830 may wirelessly communicate with the first eNB 810 and the second eNB 820 via the first panel and the second panel, respectively.

Additionally, beam aggregation may be employed in scenario 800, where different transport blocks may transmit and/or receive via different Tx-Rx beam pairs links. In various embodiments, beam aggregation may be implemented with or without a central scheduler. For the independent scheduler case, beam aggregation may operate in a manner similar to multi-connectivity, and different enbs may schedule different directions. For example, the serving eNB may schedule DL transmissions while the assistant eNB may schedule UL transmissions.

Fig. 9 illustrates a scenario of inter-panel interference in beam aggregation in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Scenario 900 may include a first eNB 910, a second eNB 920, and a UE 930. The first eNB 910 may be a serving eNB while the second eNB 920 may be an assistant eNB. The UE 930 may wirelessly communicate with the first eNB 910 and the second eNB 920 via the first panel and the second panel, respectively.

Although there may be some degree of physical isolation between the first panel of the UE 930 and the second panel of the UE 930, interference may be a problem if the UE 930 is in a cell edge area. In this case, the UL transmission power (e.g., the power of the UE 930 relative to the UL transmission 932 sent from the interference panel) may be close to the maximum UL transmission power due to power control. Meanwhile, the DL receive power (e.g., the power of the UE 930 related to DL transmissions 912 received by the interfered panel) may be relatively low. The IPI may then be observed in the interfered panel of the UE 930.

Reduction of IPI can create challenges due to various factors. First, multi-beam operation may be used for DL and UL. Second, UL and DL may be for different enbs, and a large timing gap between UL and DL may be observed due to propagation delays that may be different, and the network may be asynchronous (e.g., not synchronized). Third, the UE may have more than two active antenna panels, and thus the total number of Tx antenna ports and antenna elements and Rx antenna ports and antenna elements may be different.

The various mechanisms and methods discussed herein may advantageously reduce IPI for multi-beam operation (e.g., for beam aggregation), where beams may reach different panels of a UE from different directions. In some embodiments, IPI may be reduced by coordinating scheduling enhancements among enbs. For some embodiments, IPI may be reduced by multiple enbs serving a UE simultaneously avoiding scheduling different link transmissions simultaneously (e.g., avoiding scheduling link transmissions in different UL/DL directions simultaneously).

In addition, the various mechanisms and methods discussed herein may facilitate UE IPI cancellation for multi-beam operation. In some embodiments, channel estimation associated with IPI may be performed (which may be done during the UE Radio Frequency (RF) front end correction phase). For some embodiments, the estimated channel coefficients in the time or frequency domain may be stored in an IPI cancellation module. In some embodiments, IPI elimination may be performed if triggered by various conditions (e.g., by an IPI level that may be a predetermined threshold).

The UE may have an antenna structure having a plurality of antenna panels, and the antenna panels may be respectively directed to different directions. Table 1 below provides antenna elements for one panel.

Table 1: antenna element for panel

Despite some isolation between different antenna panels, the IPI is still large if the transmit power from the interfering panel is large. For example, if the UE is in a cell edge region, the transmission power may be relatively large, for example, due to power control. Additionally, beam aggregation may be used for cell edge UEs.

In some embodiments, IPIs may be suppressed by coordinating scheduling. Multiple enbs may simultaneously schedule the same direction (e.g., UL or DL) for all panels of one UE.

However, the effectiveness of coordinated scheduling may be reduced in some cases. For example, in the case of an asynchronous network, scheduling the same direction at the same time for multiple enbs can create challenges, although beam aggregation may be used for an asynchronous network. In addition, due to propagation delays, IPI still occurs due to TA even if the network is synchronized and coordinated scheduling is utilized. Thus, the UE may advantageously employ mechanisms and methods of inhibiting IPI.

Fig. 10 illustrates a memory structure for a channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The memory structure 1000 may include a plurality of stored channel estimates 1010 between each Tx beam/Rx beam pair from different channels.

In some embodiments, the IPI may be suppressed by the UE receiver. According to one option, the UE may predefine (or predetermine) its Tx beam and Rx beam grids and estimate the channel between each Tx beam/Rx beam pair from different panels. Accordingly, the UE may store the time domain channel and/or the frequency domain channel (or channel estimate) of each Tx beam/Rx beam pair in memory.

For example, reference is made to memory structure 1000 (which may be for a dual panel UE or haveAt least two-panel UE), there may be R Rx beams and T Tx beams, and each channel H_a,b,c,dMay represent channels associated with an Rx beam number c (of R Rx beams) of panel a and a Tx beam number d (of T Tx beams) of panel b paired therewith.

It should be noted that for IPI cancellation, various embodiments may consider only those channel coefficients corresponding to beam pairs that potentially result in significant IPI. In addition, the IPI cancellation method can be applied only when a significant IPI is present. In other words, if the expected IPI level is very small, IPI cancellation may not be needed. Thus, various embodiments may eliminate the open-close mechanism (e.g., a threshold-based open-close mechanism) in conjunction with IPI.

The stored channels may be channels in the frequency domain or the time domain. In some embodiments, the stored channels may include two vectors: one vector is a delay vector indicating the delay of each tap (the delay of each tap may or may not be quantized), and the other vector is the channel coefficients of each tap. Then, since the UE can know the channel and transmission signal between the interfered panel and the interfering panel, interference cancellation can be performed in the time domain or the frequency domain. Note that if channel reciprocity can be confirmed between panels, the grid of beams in each panel is the same, and the channels need to be stored for only one direction (e.g., H)_0,1,x,y)。

In the time domain, the received signal of one antenna port can be given by:

wherein h is_j[n]May indicate an equivalent beamforming channel from the serving eNB in Tx antenna port j; x is the number of_j[n]May represent the DL time domain signal in Tx antenna port j; h is_j’[n]May refer to an equivalent beamformed inter-panel channel in Tx antenna port j; x is the number of_j’[n]May indicate the UL time domain signal in Tx antenna port j; sigma_j[n]Can represent interference plusNoise; n is a radical of_TxMay be the number of Tx antenna ports in the serving eNB; n is a radical of_Tx' may be the number of Tx antenna ports in the interference panel.

To reduce interference in the time domain, the received signal in each antenna port may be given by:

where hj "[ n ] may indicate a pre-stored channel from antenna port j of the interference panel.

In the frequency domain, the received signal in one subcarrier can be obtained by the following equation:

Y＝HX+H'X'+N

where H, X, H ', X' and N are all Tx antenna ports h_j[n]、x_j[n]、h_j’[n]、x_j’[n]And σ_j[n]Is measured in the frequency domain. The IPI in the frequency domain can then be derived from the following equation:

Y-H”X'

where H "may indicate a frequency domain storage channel.

In some embodiments, to save memory, the UE may estimate the instant inter-panel channel for each subframe (since different Tx beams may be used in different UL channels). The inter-panel channel may be estimated on a per physical channel basis. For example, one channel may be estimated from a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) and another channel may be estimated from a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). Since the UE may have TA information, the interference to be suppressed for each symbol may then be determined from the TA, or from the TA plus the propagation delay between the two channels. The propagation delay may be ignored or measured by the UE and pre-stored. After estimating the inter-panel channel, a Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) receiver or a Maximum Likelihood Detection (MLD) receiver may be used to equalize the DL signal.

For some embodiments, the UE may store the coupling loss between the two antenna panels between each Tx beam and Rx beam. Then, upon receiving the DL signal, the UE may estimate noise plus interference through a channel estimation or interference measurement resource. The UE may turn on the advanced receiver to lower IPI when the following conditions are true:

wherein:

may represent estimated noise plus interference in dB; p_txMay indicate the Tx power of the adjacent antenna panel; gamma ray_i,jMay refer to a stored coupling loss between Rx beam i and Tx beam j, which may be used for current DL reception and/or current UL transmission.

In various embodiments, the features discussed above may be extended to the case where a UE may have more than two antenna panels.

In some embodiments, for a UE with multiple antenna panels, the UE may have multiple TAs. For some embodiments, the UE may receive more than one TA from the same eNB. One antenna panel may be considered as a group of antenna ports. The TA may then be antenna port group specific. The number of antenna ports per group may be predefined (or predetermined) or may be reported and/or configured by higher layer signaling.

Additionally, for some embodiments, the UE may have more physical antenna panels than RF chains. Thus, since a UE may have P antenna ports per group, G antenna port groups, and F RF chains, there is one case of PxG > F. As a result, the UE may be set to report the number of Tx/Rx antenna ports and the maximum number of antenna ports simultaneously when reporting the UE capability.

Fig. 11 illustrates a TA indication structure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The first TA indication structure 1110 may indicate the TAs of all antenna port groups and may accordingly have a MAC CE structure similar to that depicted. The second TA indication structure 1120 may indicate a TA and an AP group index of one AP group, and may accordingly have a structure (e.g., a MAC CE structure) similar to the depicted structure.

When triggered by PRACH or xPRACH for TA estimation, the eNB may indicate the antenna port group index to the UE to ensure that the UE is informed which antenna port or ports should be used and/or which antenna panel should be used.

Fig. 12 illustrates an eNB and a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Fig. 12 includes a block diagram of an eNB1210 and a UE1230 operable to co-exist with each other and with other elements of an LTE network. A high level simplified architecture of eNB1210 and UE1230 is described to avoid obscuring embodiments. It should be noted that in some embodiments, eNB1210 may be a stationary non-mobile device.

The eNB1210 is coupled to one or more antennas 1205, and the UE1230 is similarly coupled to one or more antennas 1225. However, in some embodiments, eNB1210 may incorporate or include antenna 1205, and in various embodiments, UE1230 may incorporate or include antenna 1225.

In some embodiments, antennas 1205 and/or 1225 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including monopole antennas, dipole antennas, loop antennas, patch antennas, microstrip antennas, coplanar wave antennas, or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some MIMO (multiple input multiple output) embodiments, the antennas 1205 may be separated to exploit spatial diversity.

The eNB1210 and UE1230 are operable to communicate with each other over a network, such as a wireless network. The eNB1210 and the UE1230 may communicate with each other over a wireless communication channel 1250 having a downlink path from the eNB1210 to the UE1230 and an uplink path from the UE1230 to the eNB 1210.

As shown in fig. 12, in some embodiments, eNB1210 may include physical layer circuitry 1212, MAC (media access control) circuitry 1214, a processor 1216, memory 1218, and hardware processing circuitry 1220. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other components not shown in the figures, in addition to those shown in the figures, may be used to form a complete eNB.

In some embodiments, physical layer circuitry 1212 includes a transceiver 1213 for providing signals to and from UE 1230. A transceiver 1213 provides signals to and from the UE or other devices using one or more antennas 1205. In some embodiments, the MAC circuit 1214 controls access to the wireless medium. The memory 1218 may be or include a storage medium/media such as a magnetic storage medium (e.g., tape or disk), an optical storage medium (e.g., optical disk), an electronic storage medium (e.g., a conventional hard disk drive, solid state disk drive, or flash memory-based storage medium), or any tangible or non-transitory storage medium. Hardware processing circuitry 1220 may include logic devices or circuitry to perform various operations. In some embodiments, the processor 1216 and the memory 1218 are arranged to perform operations of the hardware processing circuitry 1220, e.g., operations described herein with reference to logic devices and circuitry in the eNB1210 and/or the hardware processing circuitry 1220.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, the eNB1210 may be a device that includes an application processor, a memory, one or more antenna ports, and an interface to allow the application processor to communicate with another device.

Additionally, as shown in fig. 12, in some embodiments, UE1230 may include physical layer circuitry 1232, MAC circuitry 1234, a processor 1236, memory 1238, hardware processing circuitry 1240, a wireless interface 1242, and a display 1244. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other components not shown in the figures, in addition to those shown in the figures, may be used to form a complete UE.

In some embodiments, the physical layer circuitry 1232 includes a transceiver 1233 for providing signals to and from the eNB1210 (and other enbs). The transceiver 1233 provides signals to and from an eNB or other device using one or more antennas 1225. In some embodiments, MAC circuitry 1234 controls access to the wireless medium. Memory 1238 may be or include a storage medium/media such as a magnetic storage medium (e.g., a magnetic tape or disk), an optical storage medium (e.g., an optical disk), an electronic storage medium (e.g., a conventional hard disk drive, a solid state drive, or a flash memory-based storage medium), or any tangible or non-transitory storage medium. The wireless interface 1242 may be arranged to allow the processor to communicate with another device. Display 1244 may provide a visual and/or tactile display, such as a touch screen display, for a user to interact with UE 1230. The hardware processing circuitry 1240 may comprise logic devices or circuitry to perform various operations. In some embodiments, the processor 1236 and the memory 1238 may be arranged to perform operations of the hardware processing circuitry 1240, e.g., operations described herein with reference to logic devices and circuitry in the UE1230 and/or the hardware processing circuitry 1240.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, the UE1230 may be a device that includes an application processor, memory, one or more antennas, a wireless interface to allow the application processor to communicate with another device, and a touchscreen display.

Elements of fig. 12 and elements having the same name or reference number in other figures may operate or function in the manner described herein with respect to any of these figures (although the operation and function of these elements is not limited to these descriptions). For example, fig. 13-14 and 17-18 also illustrate embodiments of an eNB, hardware processing circuitry of an eNB, a UE, and/or hardware processing circuitry of a UE, and the embodiments described with respect to fig. 12, 13-14, and 17-18 may operate or function in the manner described herein with respect to any of the figures.

In addition, although the eNB1210 and the UE1230, respectively, are described as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined together and may be implemented by a combination of software-configured elements and/or other hardware elements. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a functional element may refer to one or more processes running on one or more processing elements. Examples of software and/or hardware configuration elements include a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), one or more microprocessors, a DSP, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), and so forth.

Fig. 13 illustrates hardware processing circuitry of a UE for beam-specific TA adjustment and TA measurement for non-reciprocal beamforming systems, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Fig. 14 illustrates hardware processing circuitry of a UE for reducing inter-panel self-interference for multi-beam operation, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to fig. 12, the UE may include various hardware processing circuitry discussed herein (e.g., hardware processing circuitry 1300 of fig. 13 and hardware processing circuitry 1400 of fig. 14), which in turn may include logic devices and/or circuitry operable to perform various operations. For example, in fig. 12, the UE1230 (or various elements or components thereof, e.g., the hardware processing circuitry 1240, or a combination of elements or components herein) may include some or all of these hardware processing circuitry.

In some embodiments, one or more devices or circuits in these hardware processing circuits may be implemented by software configured elements and/or combinations of hardware configured elements. For example, the processor 1236 (and/or one or more other processors that the UE1230 may include), the memory 1238, and/or other elements or components of the UE1230 (which may include the hardware processing circuitry 1240) may be arranged to perform operations of these hardware processing circuitry, e.g., the operations described herein with reference to the devices and circuitry therein. In some embodiments, processor 1236 (and/or one or more other processors that UE1230 may include) may be a baseband processor.

Turning to fig. 13, an apparatus of a UE1230 (or another UE or mobile handset) may include hardware processing circuitry 1300, wherein the UE1230 is operable to communicate with one or more enbs over a wireless network. In some embodiments, hardware processing circuitry 1300 may include one or more antenna ports 1305 operable to provide various transmissions over a wireless communication channel (e.g., wireless communication channel 1250). The antenna port 1305 may be coupled to one or more antennas 1307 (which may be antennas 1225). In some embodiments, the hardware processing circuit 1300 may incorporate the antenna 1307; while in other embodiments the hardware processing circuit 1300 may be coupled only to the antenna 1307.

The antenna port 1305 and the antenna 1307 are operable to provide signals from the UE to the wireless communication channel and/or eNB, and are operable to provide signals from the eNB and/or wireless communication channel to the UE. For example, antenna port 1305 and antenna 1307 may be operable to provide transmission from UE1230 to wireless communication channel 1250 (and to provide transmission from wireless communication channel 1250 to eNB1210 or another eNB). Similarly, the antenna 1307 and antenna port 1305 may be operable to provide transmissions from the wireless communication channel 1250 (and from eNB1210 or another eNB) to the UE 1230.

Hardware processing circuit 1300 may include various circuits that may operate in accordance with various embodiments discussed herein. Referring to fig. 13, the hardware processing circuit 1300 may include a first circuit 1310, a second circuit 1320, and/or a third circuit 1330. The first circuitry 1310 may be operable to determine a preferred UE beam. The second circuitry 1320 may be operable to generate a PRACH transmission associated with the preferred eNB beam for transmission on the preferred UE beam. The first circuitry 1310 is operable to provide an indicator of a preferred UE beam to the second circuitry 1320 via the interface 1315. The third circuit 1330 is operable to process RAR transmissions carrying TAs received over the preferred UE beam. The hardware processing circuitry 1300 may also include an interface to send PRACH transmissions to the transmit circuitry and to receive RAR transmissions from the receive circuitry.

In some embodiments, the TA may be measured based on a beam pair link including an eNB beam and a preferred UE beam associated with the PRACH transmission. For some embodiments, the eNB may identify an eNB beam associated with a PRACH transmission to the UE. In some embodiments, the beam pair link may be a first beam pair link, the TA may be a first TA, the UE may maintain a first association between the first beam pair link and the first TA, and the UE may maintain a second association between the second beam pair link and the second TA.

For some embodiments, the UE may update the used TA from the first TA to the second TA when switching beams from the first beam pair link to the second beam pair link. In some embodiments, the UE may update the used TA based on a time difference between the first TA and the second TA. For some embodiments, the RAR transmission may carry an index corresponding to a preferred eNB beam based on the PRACH transmission. In some embodiments, the preferred UE beam may be based on one or more repeated single beam synchronization signals from the eNB.

In some embodiments, the second circuit 1320 is operable to generate a Msg3 transmission. For some embodiments, the third circuit 1330 is operable to process a transmission carrying TA information and a beam indicator based on Msg 3.

For some embodiments, the MAC CE may be associated with TA information and a beam indicator. In some embodiments, the Msg3 transmission may carry a DMRS. In some embodiments, the TA information and beam indicator may be carried by subsequent data.

In some embodiments, Msg3 may be generated to be sent with long CP, and Msg3 may carry two DMRSs over multiple OFDM symbols followed by copies of one or more data portions.

For some embodiments, a transmission carrying TA information may additionally carry an indicator having at least a first value corresponding to a correct arrival, a second value corresponding to an early arrival, and a third value corresponding to a late arrival.

In some embodiments, the PRACH transmission may be a first PRACH transmission and the RAR transmission may be a first RAR transmission. The second circuitry 1320 may be operable to generate a second PRACH transmission for transmission on the preferred UE beam based on the TA. The third circuit 1330 is operable to process a second RAR transmission carrying a TA error indicator based on the second PRACH transmission.

For some embodiments, the first RAR transmission may carry TA information. In some embodiments, the second RAR transmission may carry the entire RAR field. For some embodiments, the time domain resources, frequency domain resources, and/or code resources may be configured based on a configuration transmitted by the eNB or a predetermined setting.

In some embodiments, the first circuitry 1310, the second circuitry 1320, and/or the third circuitry 1330 may be implemented as different circuits. In other embodiments, the first circuitry 1310, the second circuitry 1320, and/or the third circuitry 1330 may be combined and implemented together in circuitry without changing the essence of the embodiments.

Turning to fig. 14, an apparatus of a UE1230 (or another UE or mobile handset) operable to communicate with one or more enbs over a wireless network may include hardware processing circuitry 1400. In some embodiments, hardware processing circuitry 1400 may include one or more antenna ports 1405 operable to provide various transmissions over a wireless communication channel (e.g., wireless communication channel 1250). Antenna port 1405 may be coupled to one or more antennas 1407 (which may be antennas 1225). In some embodiments, the hardware processing circuit 1400 may incorporate the antenna 1407, while in other embodiments, the hardware processing circuit 14000 may be coupled only to the antenna 1407.

Antenna port 1405 and antenna 1407 are operable to provide signals from the UE to the wireless communication channel and/or eNB and operable to provide signals from the eNB and/or wireless communication channel to the UE. For example, antenna port 1405 and antenna 1407 may be operable to provide transmission from UE1230 to wireless communication channel 1250 (and from wireless communication channel 1250 to eNB1210 or another eNB). Similarly, antenna 1407 and antenna port 1405 are operable to provide for transmission from wireless communication channel 1250 (and from eNB1210 or another eNB) to UE 1230.

Hardware processing circuitry 1400 may include various circuitry operable to operate in accordance with various embodiments discussed herein. Referring to fig. 14, hardware processing circuitry 1400 may include first circuitry 1410, second circuitry 1420, and/or third circuitry 1430. The first circuitry 1410 may be operable to process a first transmission received through a first UE beam associated with a first antenna panel. The first circuitry 1410 may also be operable to process a second transmission received through a second UE beam associated with a second antenna panel. The first antenna panel may be associated with a first TA and the second antenna panel may be associated with a second TA. Hardware processing circuitry 1400 may also include an interface to receive the first transmission and the second transmission from the receive circuitry.

In some embodiments, a first TA may correspond to one or more first antenna ports and/or first antenna port groups, and a second TA may correspond to one or more second antenna ports and/or second antenna port groups. For some embodiments, the first antenna panel may correspond to a first antenna port group having one or more first antenna ports and the second antenna panel may correspond to a second antenna port group having one or more second antenna ports. In some embodiments, the first transmission may be from a first eNB and the second transmission may be from a second eNB.

For some embodiments, the second circuitry 1420 is operable to generate a report transmission carrying an indicator of a maximum number of antenna ports, an indicator of a number of antenna ports per antenna port group, an indicator of a number of antenna groups, and/or an indicator of a maximum number of antenna ports that may be simultaneously used for transmitting and receiving.

In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include an indicator of the first TA and an indicator of the second TA. For some embodiments, the MAC CE may carry an indicator of the TA, an indicator of the antenna port group, and/or an indicator of one or more antenna ports. In some embodiments, the first transmission may be associated with a first schedule. For some embodiments, the second transmission may be associated with a second schedule. In some embodiments, the first scheduled UL/DL direction may be synchronized with the second scheduled UL/DL direction.

For some embodiments, the third circuit 1430 may be operable to store estimated channel coefficients for IPIs at the first antenna panel due to the second antenna panel. In some embodiments, the third circuit 1430 is operable to determine when a coupling loss between the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel is less than a predetermined threshold. For some embodiments, the third circuit 1430 is operable to report the ability to suppress IPIs. The first circuit 1410 is operable to provide an indicator of estimated channel coefficients of IPI at the first antenna panel due to the second antenna panel to the third circuit 1430 via the interface 1415. The first circuit 1410 is also operable to provide an indicator of a loss of coupling between the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel to the third circuit 1430 via the interface 1415.

In some embodiments, first circuit 1410, second circuit 1420, and/or third circuit 1430 may be implemented as different circuits. In other embodiments, the first circuit 1410, the second circuit 1420, and/or the third circuit 1430 may be combined and implemented together in a circuit without changing the essence of the embodiments.

Fig. 15 illustrates a method of beam-specific TA adjustment and TA measurement by a UE for a non-reciprocal beamforming system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Fig. 16 illustrates a method of a UE reducing inter-panel self-interference for multi-beam operation, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to fig. 12, a method that may involve the UE1230 and the hardware processing circuitry 1240 is discussed herein. Although the actions in method 1500 of FIG. 15 and method 1600 of FIG. 16 are shown in a particular order, the order of the actions can be modified. Thus, the illustrated embodiments may be performed in a different order, and some actions may be performed in parallel. Some of the actions and/or operations listed in fig. 15 and 16 are optional according to some embodiments. The numbering of the acts has been presented for the sake of clarity and is not intended to dictate the order in which the operations of various acts must be performed. In addition, operations from various flows may be used in various combinations.

Additionally, in some embodiments, a machine-readable storage medium may have executable instructions that when executed cause the UE1230 and/or hardware processing circuitry 1240 to perform operations comprising the methods of fig. 15 and 16. Such machine-readable storage media may include any of a variety of storage media such as magnetic storage media (e.g., tape or disk), optical storage media (e.g., optical disk), electronic storage media (e.g., conventional hard disk drive, solid state drive, or flash memory based storage media), or any other tangible or non-transitory storage media.

In some embodiments, an apparatus may comprise means for performing various acts and/or operations of the methods of fig. 15 and 16.

Turning to fig. 15, various methods may be in accordance with various embodiments discussed herein. The method 1500 may include determining 1510, generating 1515, and processing 1520. Method 1500 may also include generating 1530, processing 1535, generating 1540, and/or processing 1545.

In determination 1510, a preferred UE beam may be determined. In generating 1515, a PRACH transmission associated with the preferred eNB beam may be generated for transmitting on the preferred UE beam. In process 1520, RAR transmissions carrying TAs that may be received over the preferred UE beam may be processed.

In some embodiments, in generating 1530, an Msg3 transmission may be generated. For some embodiments, in process 1535, transmissions carrying TA information and beam indicators based on Msg3 may be processed.

In some embodiments, Msg3 may be generated to be sent with long CP, and Msg3 may carry copies of two DMRSs and then one or more data portions over multiple OFDM symbols.

In some embodiments, the PRACH transmission may be a first PRACH transmission and the RAR transmission may be a first RAR transmission. In generating 1540, a second PRACH transmission for transmitting on the preferred UE beam may be generated based on the TA. In process 1545, a second RAR transmission carrying a TA error indicator may be processed based on the second PRACH transmission.

Turning to fig. 16, various methods may be in accordance with various embodiments discussed herein. Method 1600 may include a process 1610 and a process 1615. The method 1600 may also include generating 1620, storing 1630, determining 1640, and/or reporting 1650.

In process 1610, a first transmission received through a first UE beam associated with a first antenna panel may be processed. In process 1620, a second transmission received over a second UE beam associated with a second antenna panel may be processed. The first antenna panel may be associated with a first TA and the second antenna panel may be associated with a second TA.

For some embodiments, in generating 1620, a report transmission may be generated carrying an indicator of a maximum number of antenna ports, an indicator of a number of antenna ports per antenna port group, an indicator of a number of antenna groups, and/or an indicator of a maximum number of antenna ports used for both transmission and reception.

For some embodiments, in storage 1630, the estimated channel coefficients for the IPI at the first antenna panel due to the second antenna panel may be stored. In some embodiments, in determination 1640, it may be determined that a coupling loss between the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel is less than a predetermined threshold. For some embodiments, the ability to inhibit IPI may be reported.

Fig. 17 illustrates example components of a device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, device 1700 may include application circuitry 1702, baseband circuitry 1704, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 1706, Front End Module (FEM) circuitry 1708, one or more antennas 1710, and Power Management Circuitry (PMC)1712 coupled together at least as shown. The illustrated components of the apparatus 1700 may be included in a UE or RAN node. In some embodiments, the apparatus 1700 may include fewer elements (e.g., the RAN node may not utilize the application circuitry 1702, but instead include a processor/controller that processes IP data received from the EPC). In some embodiments, device 1700 may include additional elements such as memory/storage devices, displays, cameras, sensors, or input/output (I/O) interfaces. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., the circuitry may be included in more than one device for a cloud RAN (C-RAC) implementation, respectively).

The application circuitry 1702 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 1702 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The one or more processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and special-purpose processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processor may be coupled to and/or include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on device 1700. In some embodiments, the processor of the application circuitry 1702 may process IP data packets received from the EPC.

The baseband circuitry 1704 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Baseband circuitry 1704 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of RF circuitry 1706 and to generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of RF circuitry 1706. Baseband processing circuits 1704 may interface with application circuits 1702 for generating and processing baseband signals and for controlling the operation of RF circuits 1706. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1704 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor 1704A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 1704B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor 1704C, or one or more other baseband processors 1704D for other existing generations, generations under development or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 1704 (e.g., one or more baseband processors 1704A-D) may handle various radio control functions for communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 1706. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 1704A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory 1704G and may be executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 1704E. Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, and the like. In some embodiments, the modulation/demodulation circuitry of baseband circuitry 1704 may include Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding/decoding circuitry of baseband circuitry 1704 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functions are not limited to these examples, and other suitable functions may be included in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1704 may include one or more audio Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) 1704F. The audio DSP 1704F may include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. The components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip or single chipset, or arranged on the same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 1704 and the application circuitry 1702 may be implemented together, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, baseband circuitry 1704 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 1704 may support communication with an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or other Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 1704 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

The RF circuitry 1706 may enable communication with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 1706 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, and the like to facilitate communications with a wireless network. The RF circuitry 1706 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1708 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 1704. The RF circuitry 1706 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 1704 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1708 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of RF circuit 1706 may include a mixer circuit 1706A, an amplifier circuit 1706B, and a filter circuit 1706C. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of RF circuitry 1706 may include filter circuitry 1706C and mixer circuitry 1706A. RF circuitry 1706 may also include a synthesizer circuit 1706D for synthesizing frequencies for use by mixer circuit 1706A of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1706A of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 1708 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 1706D. The amplifier circuit 1706B may be configured to amplify the downconverted signal and the filter circuit 1706C may be a Low Pass Filter (LPF) or a Band Pass Filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the downconverted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuitry 1704 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal, although this is not required. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1706A of the receive signal path may comprise a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1706A of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert the input baseband signal based on a synthesis frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1706D to generate an RF output signal for the FEM circuitry 1708. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuitry 1704 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 1706C.

In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1706A of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 1706A of the transmit signal path may include more than two mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1706A of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 1706A of the transmit signal path may include more than two mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1706A and mixer circuit 1706A of the receive signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1706A of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 1706A of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the RF circuitry 1706 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and the baseband circuitry 1704 may include a digital baseband interface in communication with the RF circuitry 1706.

In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuits may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1706D may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N/N +1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. Synthesizer circuit 1706D may be, for example, a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase locked loop with a frequency divider.

The synthesizer circuit 1706D may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuit 1706A of the RF circuit 1706 based on the frequency input and the divider control input. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1706D may be a fractional N/N +1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by baseband circuitry 1704 or application processor 1702 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on the channel indicated by the application processor 1702.

Synthesizer circuit 1706D of RF circuit 1706 may include a frequency divider, a Delay Locked Loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a Digital Phase Accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N +1 (e.g., based on a carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, a DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to divide the VCO period into Nd equal phase packets, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. Thus, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1706D may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, but in other embodiments the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and may be used in conjunction with the quadrature generator and divider circuit to generate a plurality of signals at the carrier frequency having a plurality of phases that are different from one another. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, RF circuit 1706 may include an IQ/polarity converter.

FEM circuitry 1708 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 1710, amplify the receive signal, and provide an amplified version of the receive signal to RF circuitry 1706 for further processing. The FEM circuitry 1708 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify a transmission signal provided by the RF circuitry 1706 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 1710. In various embodiments, amplification by the transmit or receive signal path may be performed in only the RF circuitry 1706, only the FEM 1708, or in both the RF circuitry 1706 and the FEM 1708.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1708 may include a TX/RX switch that switches between transmit mode operation and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include an LNA to amplify the receive RF signal and provide the amplified receive RF signal as an output (e.g., to RF circuitry 1706). The transmit signal path of FEM circuitry 1708 may include a Power Amplifier (PA) to amplify an input RF signal (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 1706), and one or more filters to generate the RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., one or more of one or more antennas 1710).

In some embodiments, PMC 1712 may manage power provided to baseband circuitry 1704. Specifically, PMC 1712 may control power selection, voltage regulation, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion. PMC 1712 may generally be included in device 1700 when device 1700 is capable of being charged by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE. PMC 1712 may increase power conversion efficiency while providing desired implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics.

Although figure 17 shows PMC 1712 coupled only to baseband circuitry 1704. However, in other embodiments, PMC 1712 may additionally or alternatively be coupled with other components such as, but not limited to, application circuitry 1702, RF circuitry 1706, or FEM 1708, and may perform similar power management operations for these components.

In some embodiments, PMC 1712 may control, or may be part of, various power saving mechanisms of device 1700. For example, if the device 1700 is in an RCC connected state (where it is still connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic immediately), it may enter a state referred to as discontinuous reception mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, device 1700 may power down during a short time interval, thereby saving power.

If no data traffic is active for a long period of time, the device 1700 may transition to an RCC idle mode, where it is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 1700 enters a very low power state and it performs paging by periodically waking up to listen to the network and then powering down again. Device 1700 may not receive data in this state and must transition back to the RRC connected state in order to receive data.

The additional power-saving mode may make the device unavailable to the network for a period of time longer than the paging interval (from seconds to hours). During this time, the device is completely unreachable to the network and may be completely powered down. Any data transmitted during this time causes a large delay and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

The processor of the application circuitry 1702 and the processor of the baseband circuitry 1704 may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, the processors of the baseband circuitry 1704, alone or in combination, may be used to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processors of the application circuitry 1704 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., Transmission Communication Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, as described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, as described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may comprise the Physical (PHY) layer of the UE/RAN node, as described in further detail below.

Fig. 18 illustrates an example interface of a baseband circuit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry 1704 of FIG. 17 may include the processors 1704A-1704E as well as the memory 1704G used by the processors. Each of the processors 1704A-1704E may include a memory interface 1804A-1804E to send/receive data to/from the memory 1704G, respectively.

The baseband circuitry 1704 may also include one or more interfaces communicatively coupled to other circuitry/devices, such as a memory interface 1812 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to the baseband circuitry 1704), an application circuitry interface 1814 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the application circuitry 1702 of fig. 17), an RF circuitry interface 1816 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the RF circuitry 1706 of fig. 17), a wireless hardware connectivity interface 1818 (e.g., a send/receive data to/from a Near Field Communication (NFC) component 1818,

Component (a)

Low energy),

Interfaces for components, and other data that communicate components), a power management interface 1820 (e.g., an interface that sends/receives power or control signals to/from PMC 1712).

It should be noted that, in various embodiments, elements in certain figures herein having the same reference numbers and/or names as elements in other figures herein may operate or function similarly to (but are not limited to operating or functioning in this manner) those elements of other figures.

Reference in the specification to "an embodiment," "one embodiment," "some embodiments," or "other embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least some embodiments, but not necessarily all embodiments. Various appearances of "an embodiment," "one embodiment," or "some embodiments" are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiments. If the specification states a component, feature, structure, or characteristic "may", "might", or "could" be included, that particular component, feature, structure, or characteristic is not required to be included. If the specification or claim refers to "a" or "an" element, that does not mean there is only one of the element. If the specification or claims refer to "an additional" element, that does not preclude there being more than one of the additional element.

Furthermore, the particular features, structures, functions, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. For example, the first embodiment may be combined with the second embodiment, wherein particular features, structures, functions, or characteristics associated with the two embodiments are not mutually exclusive.

While the present disclosure has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, many alternatives, modifications, and variations to those embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. For example, other memory architectures, such as dynamic ram (dram), may use the embodiments discussed. The embodiments of the present disclosure are intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances that fall within the broad scope of the appended claims.

In addition, well known power/ground connections to Integrated Circuit (IC) chips and other components may or may not be shown within the presented figures for simplicity of illustration and discussion, and so as not to obscure the disclosure. Additionally, such block diagrams may be shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the disclosure and in view of the fact that specifics with respect to implementation of such block diagram arrangements are highly dependent upon the platform within which the present disclosure is to be implemented (i.e., such specifics should be well within purview of one skilled in the art). Where specific details (e.g., circuits) are provided to describe example embodiments of the disclosure, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the disclosure may be practiced without, or with variation of, these specific details. The description is to be regarded as illustrative instead of limiting.

The following examples relate to further embodiments. The specific details in the examples may be used anywhere in one or more embodiments. All optional features of the apparatus described herein may also be implemented in relation to the method or process.

Example 1 provides an apparatus of a User Equipment (UE) operable to communicate with an evolved node b (enb) on a wireless network, comprising: one or more processors that: determining a preferred UE beam, generating a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission associated with the preferred eNB beam for transmission on the preferred UE beam, and processing a Random Access Response (RAR) transmission carrying a Timing Advance (TA) received over the preferred UE beam; and an interface for sending PRACH transmissions to the transmit circuitry and for receiving RAR transmissions from the receive circuitry.

In example 2, the apparatus of example 1, wherein the TA is measured based on a beam pair link comprising an eNB beam and a preferred UE beam associated with the PRACH transmission.

In example 3, the apparatus of example 2, wherein the UE receives, from the eNB, an identification of an eNB beam associated with the PRACH transmission to the UE.

In example 4, the apparatus of example 2 or 3, wherein the beam pair link is a first beam pair link and the TA is a first TA; wherein the UE maintains a first association between the first beam pair link and the first TA; and wherein the UE maintains a second association between the second beam pair link and the second TA.

In example 5, the apparatus of example 4, wherein the UE updates the used TA from the first TA to the second TA when switching beams from the first beam pair link to the second beam pair link.

In example 6, the apparatus of example 5, wherein the UE updates the used TA based on a time difference between the first TA and the second TA.

In example 7, the apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 6, wherein the RAR transmission carries an index corresponding to a preferred eNB based on the PRACH transmission.

In example 8, the apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 7, wherein the preferred UE beam is based on one or more repeating single beam synchronization signals from the eNB.

In example 9, the apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 8, wherein the one or more processors: generating a message 3(Msg3) transmission; and processes transmissions carrying TA information and beam indicators based on Msg 3.

In example 10, the apparatus of example 9, wherein a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) is associated with the TA information and the beam indicator.

In example 11, the apparatus of example 9 or 10, wherein the Msg3 transmissions carry demodulation reference signals (DMRS), and wherein the TA information and the beam indicator are carried by subsequent data.

In example 12, the apparatus of any one of examples 9 to 11, wherein the Msg3 is generated to be transmitted with a long Cyclic Prefix (CP), and wherein the Msg3 carries copies of two DMRSs and subsequently one or more data portions over multiple Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

In example 13, the apparatus of any one of examples 9 to 12, wherein the transmission carrying the TA information additionally carries an indicator having at least a first value corresponding to correct arrival, a second value corresponding to early arrival, and a third value corresponding to late arrival.

In example 14, the apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 13, wherein the PRACH transmission is a first PRACH transmission, wherein the RAR transmission is a first RAR transmission, and wherein the one or more processors: a second PRACH transmission for transmission on the preferred UE beam is generated based on the TA, and a second RAR transmission carrying a TA error indicator is processed based on the second PRACH transmission.

In example 15, the apparatus of example 14, wherein the first RAR transmission carries TA information, and wherein the second RAR transmission carries a complete RAR field.

In example 16, the apparatus of example 14 or 15, wherein at least one of the time domain resources, the frequency domain resources, and the code resources are configured based on a configuration transmitted by the eNB or a predetermined setting.

Example 17 provides a User Equipment (UE) device comprising an application processor, a memory, one or more antennas, a wireless interface to allow the application processor to communicate with another device, and a touchscreen display, the UE device comprising the apparatus of any of examples 1 to 16.

Example 18 provides a method comprising: determining a preferred User Equipment (UE) beam for a UE; generating a physical random access control channel (PRACH) transmission associated with a preferred evolved node B (eNB) beam for transmitting on a preferred UE beam; and processing a Random Access Response (RAR) transmission carrying a Timing Advance (TA) received over the preferred UE beam.

In example 19, the method of example 18, wherein the TA is measured based on a beam pair link comprising an eNB beam and a preferred UE beam associated with the PRACH transmission.

In example 20, the method of example 19, wherein the UE receives, from the eNB, an identification of an eNB beam associated with the PRACH transmission to the UE.

In example 21, the method of example 19 or 20, wherein the beam pair link is a first beam pair link, and the TA is a first TA; wherein the UE maintains a first association between the first beam pair link and the first TA; and wherein the UE maintains a second association between the second beam pair link and the second TA.

In example 22, the method of example 21, wherein the UE updates the used TA from the first TA to the second TA when switching beams from the first beam pair link to the second beam pair link.

In example 23, the method of example 22, wherein the UE updates the used TA based on a time difference between the first TA and the second TA.

In example 24, the method of any one of examples 18 to 23, wherein the RAR transmission carries an index corresponding to a preferred eNB beam based on the PRACH transmission.

In example 25, the method of any one of examples 18 to 24, wherein the preferred UE beam is based on one or more repeating single beam synchronization signals from the eNB.

In example 26, the method of any one of examples 18 to 25, comprising: generating a message 3(Msg3) transmission; and processing the transmission carrying the TA information and the beam indicator based on the Msg 3.

In example 27, the method of example 26, wherein a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) is associated with the TA information and the beam indicator.

In example 28, the method of example 26 or 27, wherein the Msg3 transmissions carry demodulation reference signals (DMRS), and wherein the TA information and the beam indicator are carried by subsequent data.

In example 29, the method of any one of examples 26 to 28, wherein the Msg3 is generated to be transmitted with a long Cyclic Prefix (CP), and wherein the Msg3 carries copies of the two DMRSs and the subsequent one or more data portions over a plurality of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

In example 30, the method of any one of examples 26 to 29, wherein the transmission carrying the TA information additionally carries an indicator having at least a first value corresponding to correct arrival, a second value corresponding to early arrival, and a third value corresponding to late arrival.

In example 31, the method of any of examples 18 to 30, wherein the PRACH transmission is a first PRACH transmission, wherein the RAR transmission is a first RAR transmission, and the method comprises: generating a second PRACH transmission for transmission on the preferred UE beam based on the TA; and processing a second RAR transmission carrying a TA error indicator based on the second PRACH transmission.

In example 32, the method of example 31, wherein the first RAR transmission carries TA information, and wherein the second RAR transmission carries the entire RAR field.

In example 33, the method of example 31 or 32, wherein at least one of the time domain resources, the frequency domain resources, and the code resources are configured based on one of a configuration transmitted by the eNB or a predetermined setting.

Example 34 provides a machine-readable storage medium storing machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform a method according to any one of examples 18 to 33.

Example 35 provides an apparatus of a User Equipment (UE) operable to communicate with an evolved node b (enb) on a wireless network, comprising: means for determining a preferred UE beam; means for generating a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission associated with the preferred eNB beam for transmission on the preferred UE beam; and means for processing a Random Access Response (RAR) transmission carrying a Timing Advance (TA) received over a preferred UE beam.

In example 36, the apparatus of example 35, wherein the TA is measured based on a beam pair link comprising an eNB beam and a preferred UE beam associated with the PRACH transmission.

In example 37, the apparatus of example 36, wherein the UE receives, from the eNB, an identification of an eNB beam associated with the PRACH transmission to the UE.

In example 38, the apparatus of example 36 or 37, wherein the beam pair link is a first beam pair link and the TA is a first TA; wherein the UE maintains a first association between the first beam pair link and the first TA; and wherein the UE maintains a second association between the second beam pair link and the second TA.

In example 39, the apparatus of example 38, wherein the UE updates the used TA from the first TA to the second TA when switching beams from the first beam pair link to the second beam pair link.

In example 40, the apparatus of example 39, wherein the UE updates the used TA based on a time difference between the first TA and the second TA.

In example 41, the apparatus of any one of examples 35 to 40, wherein the RAR transmission carries an index corresponding to a preferred eNB beam based on the PRACH transmission.

In example 42, the apparatus of any one of examples 35 to 41, wherein the preferred UE beam is based on one or more repeating single beam synchronization signals from the eNB.

In example 43, the apparatus of any one of examples 35 to 42, comprising: means for generating a message 3(Msg3) transmission; and means for processing the transmission carrying the TA information and the beam indicator based on the Msg 3.

In example 44, the apparatus of example 43, wherein a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) is associated with the TA information and the beam indicator.

In example 45, the apparatus of example 43 or 44, wherein the Msg3 transmissions carry demodulation reference signals (DMRS), and wherein the TA information and the beam indicator are carried by subsequent data.

In example 46, the apparatus of any one of examples 43 to 45, wherein the Msg3 is generated to be transmitted with a long Cyclic Prefix (CP), and wherein the Msg3 carries copies of two DMRSs and subsequently one or more data portions over multiple Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

In example 47, the apparatus of any one of examples 43 to 46, wherein the transmission carrying the TA information additionally carries an indicator having at least a first value corresponding to correct arrival, a second value corresponding to early arrival, and a third value corresponding to late arrival.

In example 48, the apparatus of any one of examples 35 to 47, wherein the PRACH transmission is a first PRACH transmission, wherein the RAR transmission is a first RAR transmission, and the apparatus comprising: means for generating a second PRACH transmission for transmission on the preferred UE beam based on the TA; and means for processing a second RAR transmission carrying a TA error indicator based on the second PRACH transmission.

In example 49, the apparatus of example 48, wherein the first RAR transmission carries TA information, and wherein the second RAR transmission carries the entire RAR field.

In example 50, the apparatus of example 48 or 49, wherein at least one of the time domain resources, the frequency domain resources, and the code resources are configured based on one of a configuration transmitted by the eNB or a predetermined setting.

Example 51 provides a machine-readable storage medium having machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a User Equipment (UE) operable to communicate with an evolved node b (enb) over a wireless network to perform operations comprising: determining a preferred UE beam; generating a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission associated with the preferred eNB beam for transmission on the preferred UE beam; and processing a Random Access Response (RAR) transmission carrying a Timing Advance (TA) received over the preferred UE beam.

In example 52, the machine-readable storage medium of example 51, wherein the TA is measured based on a beam pair link comprising an eNB beam and a preferred UE beam associated with the PRACH transmission.

In example 53, the machine-readable storage medium of example 52, wherein the UE receives, from the eNB, an identification of an eNB beam associated with the PRACH transmission to the UE.

In example 54, the machine-readable storage medium of example 52 or 53, wherein the beam pair link is a first beam pair link and the TA is a first TA; wherein the UE maintains a first association between the first beam pair link and the first TA; and wherein the UE maintains a second association between the second beam pair link and the second TA.

In example 55, the machine-readable storage medium of example 54, wherein the UE updates the used TA from the first TA to the second TA when switching beams from the first beam pair link to the second beam pair link.

In example 56, the machine-readable storage medium of example 55, wherein the UE updates the used TA based on a time difference between the first TA and the second TA.

In example 57, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 51 to 56, wherein the RAR transmission carries an index corresponding to a preferred eNB beam based on the PRACH transmission.

In example 58, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 51 to 57, wherein the preferred UE beam is based on one or more repeating single beam synchronization signals from the eNB.

In example 59, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 51 to 58, the operations comprising: generating a message 3(Msg3) transmission; and processing the transmission carrying the TA information and the beam indicator based on the Msg 3.

In example 60, the machine-readable storage medium of example 59, wherein the Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) is associated with the TA information and the beam indicator.

In example 61, the machine-readable storage medium of example 69 or 60, wherein the Msg transmission carries a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and wherein the TA information and the beam indicator are carried by subsequent data.

In example 62, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 59 to 61, wherein the Msg3 is generated to be transmitted with a long Cyclic Prefix (CP), and wherein the Msg3 carries copies of the two DMRSs and the subsequent one or more data portions over a plurality of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

In example 63, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 59 to 62, wherein the TA-carrying transmission additionally carries an indicator having at least a first value corresponding to correct arrival, a second value corresponding to early arrival, and a third value corresponding to late arrival.

In example 64, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 51 to 63, wherein the PRACH transmission is a first PRACH transmission, wherein the RAR transmission is a first RAR transmission, and the operations comprise: generating a second PRACH transmission for transmission on the preferred UE beam based on the TA; processing a second RAR transmission carrying a TA error indicator based on a second PRACH transmission.

In example 65, the machine-readable storage medium of example 64, wherein the first RAR transmission carries TA information, and wherein the second RAR transmission carries the entire RAR field.

In example 66, the machine-readable storage medium of example 64 or 65, wherein at least one of the time domain resources, the frequency domain resources, and the code resources are configured based on one of a configuration transmitted by the eNB or a predetermined setting.

Example 67 provides an apparatus of a User Equipment (UE) operable to communicate with one or more evolved node bs (enbs) on a wireless network, comprising: one or more processors that: processing a first transmission received through a first UE beam associated with a first antenna panel, processing a second transmission received through a second UE beam associated with a second antenna panel, wherein the first antenna panel is associated with a first Timing Advance (TA) and the second antenna panel is associated with a second TA; and an interface to receive the first transmission and the second transmission from the receive circuit.

In example 68, the apparatus of example 67, wherein the first TA corresponds to at least one of: one or more first antenna ports, or a first group of antenna ports; and wherein the second TA corresponds to at least one of: one or more second antenna ports, or a second group of antenna ports.

In example 69, the apparatus of examples 67 or 68, wherein the first antenna panel corresponds to a first antenna port group having one or more first antenna ports, and wherein the second antenna panel corresponds to a second antenna port group having one or more second antenna ports.

In example 70, the apparatus of any one of examples 67 to 69, wherein the first transmission is from a first evolved node b (eNB) and the second transmission is from a second eNB.

In example 71, the apparatus of any one of examples 67 to 70, wherein the one or more processors generate the report transmission to carry one or more of: an indicator of a maximum number of antenna ports, an indicator of a number of antenna ports per antenna port group, an indicator of a number of antenna groups, or an indicator of a maximum number of antenna ports used for both transmission and reception.

In example 72, the apparatus of any one of examples 67 to 71, wherein the Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) comprises an indicator of the first TA and an indicator of the second TA.

In example 73, the apparatus of any one of examples 67 to 72, wherein a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) carries an indicator of TA and an indicator of at least one of: a group of antenna ports or one or more antenna ports.

In example 74, the apparatus of any one of examples 67 to 73, wherein the first transmission is associated with a first schedule, the second transmission is associated with a second schedule, and an Uplink (UL)/Downlink (DL) direction of the first schedule is synchronized with an UL/DL direction of the second schedule.

In example 75, the apparatus of any one of examples 67 to 74, wherein the one or more processors: estimated channel coefficients of inter-panel interference (IPI) at the first antenna panel due to the second antenna panel are stored.

In example 76, the apparatus of example 75, wherein the one or more processors: determining when a coupling loss between the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel is less than a predetermined threshold.

In example 77, the apparatus of any one of examples 67 to 76, wherein the one or more processors: the ability to suppress inter-panel interference (IPI) is reported.

Example 78 provides a User Equipment (UE) comprising an application processor, a memory, one or more antennas, a wireless interface to allow the application processor to communicate with another device, and a touchscreen display, the UE device comprising the apparatus of any of examples 67 to 77.

Example 79 provides a method, comprising: processing, for a User Equipment (UE), a first transmission received through a first UE beam associated with a first antenna panel; and processing a second transmission received through a second UE beam associated with a second antenna panel, wherein the first antenna panel is associated with a first Timing Advance (TA) and the second antenna panel is associated with a second TA.

In example 80, the method of example 79, wherein the first TA corresponds to at least one of: one or more first antenna ports, or a first antenna port group, and wherein the second TA corresponds to at least one of: one or more second antenna ports, or a second group of antenna ports.

In example 81, the method of examples 79 or 80, wherein the first antenna panel corresponds to a first antenna port group having one or more first antenna ports, and wherein the second antenna panel corresponds to a second antenna port group having one or more second antenna ports.

In example 82, the method of any one of examples 79 to 81, wherein the first transmission is from a first evolved node b (eNB) and the second transmission is from a second eNB.

In example 83, the method of any one of examples 79 to 82, comprising: generating a report transmission carrying one or more of: an indicator of a maximum number of antenna ports, an indicator of a number of antenna ports per antenna port group, an indicator of a number of antenna groups, or an indicator of a maximum number of antenna ports used for both transmission and reception.

In example 84, the method of any one of examples 79 to 83, wherein the Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) comprises an indicator of the first TA and an indicator of the second TA.

In example 85, the method of any one of examples 79 to 84, wherein a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) carries an indicator of TA and an indicator of at least one of: a group of antenna ports, or one or more antenna ports.

In example 86, the method of any one of examples 79 to 85, wherein the first transmission is associated with a first schedule, the second transmission is associated with a second schedule, and an Uplink (UL)/Downlink (DL) direction of the first schedule is synchronized with an UL/DL direction of the second schedule.

In example 87, the method of any one of examples 79 to 86, comprising: estimated channel coefficients of inter-panel interference (IPI) at the first antenna panel due to the second antenna panel are stored.

In example 88, the method of example 87, comprising: determining when a coupling loss between the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel is less than a predetermined threshold.

In example 89, the method of any one of examples 79 to 88, comprising: the ability to suppress inter-panel interference (IPI) is reported.

Example 90 provides a machine-readable storage medium storing machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform a method according to any one of examples 79 to 89.

Example 91 provides an apparatus of a User Equipment (UE) operable to communicate with one or more evolved node bs (enbs) on a wireless network, comprising: means for processing a first transmission received through a first UE beam associated with a first antenna panel; means for processing a second transmission received through a second UE beam associated with a second antenna panel, wherein the first antenna panel is associated with a first Timing Advance (TA) and the second antenna panel is associated with a second TA.

In example 92, the apparatus of example 91, wherein the first TA corresponds to at least one of: one or more first antenna ports, or a first group of antenna ports; and wherein the second TA corresponds to at least one of: one or more second antenna ports, or a second group of antenna ports.

In example 93, the apparatus of examples 91 or 92, wherein the first antenna panel corresponds to a first antenna port group having one or more first antenna ports, and wherein the second antenna panel corresponds to a second antenna port group having one or more second antenna ports.

In example 94, the apparatus of any one of examples 91 to 93, wherein the first transmission is from a first evolved node b (eNB) and the second transmission is from a second eNB.

In example 95, the apparatus of any one of examples 91 to 94, comprising: for generating a report transmission carrying one or more of: an indicator of a maximum number of antenna ports, an indicator of a number of antenna ports per antenna port group, an indicator of a number of antenna groups, or an indicator of a maximum number of antenna ports used for both transmission and reception.

In example 96, the apparatus of any one of examples 91 to 95, wherein the Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) comprises an indicator of the first TA and an indicator of the second TA.

In example 97, the apparatus of any of examples 91 to 96, wherein a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) carries an indicator of TA and an indicator of at least one of: a group of antenna ports or one or more antenna ports.

In example 98, the apparatus of any one of examples 91 to 97, wherein the first transmission is associated with a first schedule, the second transmission is associated with a second schedule, and an Uplink (UL)/Downlink (DL) direction of the first schedule is synchronized with an UL/DL direction of the second schedule.

In example 99, the apparatus of any one of examples 91 to 98, comprising: means for storing estimated channel coefficients of inter-panel interference (IPI) at the first antenna panel due to the second antenna panel.

In example 100, the apparatus of example 99, comprising: means for determining when a coupling loss between the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel is less than a predetermined threshold.

In example 101, the method of any one of examples 91 to 100, comprising: means for reporting an ability to suppress inter-panel interference (IPI).

Example 102 provides a machine-readable storage medium having machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a User Equipment (UE) operable to communicate with an evolved node b (enb) over a wireless network to perform operations comprising: processing a first transmission received through a first UE beam associated with a first antenna panel; and processing a second transmission received through a second UE beam associated with a second antenna panel, wherein the first antenna panel is associated with a first Timing Advance (TA) and the second antenna panel is associated with a second TA.

In example 103, the machine-readable storage medium of example 102, wherein the first TA corresponds to at least one of: one or more first antenna ports, or a first antenna port group, and wherein the second TA corresponds to at least one of: one or more second antenna ports, or a second group of antenna ports.

In example 104, the machine-readable storage medium of example 102 or 103, wherein the first antenna panel corresponds to a first antenna port group having one or more first antenna ports, and wherein the second antenna panel corresponds to a second antenna port group having one or more second antenna ports.

In example 105, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 102 to 104, wherein the first transmission is from a first evolved node b (eNB) and the second transmission is from a second eNB.

In example 106, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 102 to 105, the operations comprising: generating a report transmission carrying one or more of: an indicator of a maximum number of antenna ports, an indicator of a number of antenna ports per antenna port group, an indicator of a number of antenna groups, or an indicator of a maximum number of antenna ports used for both transmission and reception.

In example 107, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 102 to 106, wherein the Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) comprises an indicator of the first TA and an indicator of the second TA.

In example 108, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 102 to 107, wherein the Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) carries an indicator of the TA and an indicator of at least one of: a group of antenna ports or one or more antenna ports.

In example 109, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 102 to 108, wherein the first transmission is associated with a first schedule, the second transmission is associated with a second schedule, and an Uplink (UL)/Downlink (DL) direction of the first schedule is synchronized with an UL/DL direction of the second schedule.

In example 110, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 102 to 109, the operations comprising: estimated channel coefficients of inter-panel interference (IPI) at the first antenna panel due to the second antenna panel are stored.

In example 111, the machine-readable storage medium of example 10, the operations comprising: determining when a coupling loss between the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel is less than a predetermined threshold.

In example 112, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 102 to 111, the operations comprising: the ability to suppress inter-panel interference (IPI) is reported.

In example 113, the apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 16 and 67 to 77, wherein the one or more processors comprise a baseband processor.

In example 114, the apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 16 and 67 to 77, comprising a memory to store instructions, the memory coupled to the one or more processors.

In example 115, the apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 16 and 67 to 77, comprising transceiver circuitry to at least one of: generating a transmission, encoding a transmission, processing a transmission, or decoding a transmission.

In example 116, the apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 16 and 67 to 77, comprising transceiver circuitry to generate the transmission and process the transmission.

An abstract is provided to allow the reader to recognize the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit the scope or meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims

1. An apparatus of a User Equipment (UE) operable to communicate with an evolved node b (enb) on a wireless network, comprising:

one or more processors configured to:

determining a preferred UE beam;

generating a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission associated with a preferred eNB beam for transmission on the preferred UE beam; and is

Processing Random Access Response (RAR) transmissions carrying Timing Advance (TA) received over the preferred UE beam, an

An interface to send the PRACH transmission to a sending circuit and to receive the RAR transmission from a receiving circuit.