Patent Description:
<NPL>, relates to a contribution that discussed possible solutions to be studied for latency and overhead reduction in Rel-<NUM>. <NPL>, relates to a contribution that discussed several scenarios identified where excessive latency/overhead is unavoidable with Rel-<NUM> BM and possible solutions to be studied in Rel-<NUM>. <CIT> relates to low frequency transmission and reception point (LF-TRP) assisted beam sweeping methods for beam alignment between a user equipment and a high frequency transmission reception point (HF-TRP) for initial access and beam recovery procedures in a wireless communication network. <CIT> relates to radio access network, camping and beam finding.

In the following, each of the described methods, apparatuses, examples, and aspects as well as the whole following description, are present for illustration purposes only or to highlight specific aspects or features of the claims.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer readable mediums for search scheduling for wireless communications. For example, certain aspects provide techniques for determining at a UE which receive beam of a plurality of receive beams to use for receiving (e.g., attempting to receive) one or more synchronization signals as part of a cell/transmit beam search procedure. The UE may have a number of search opportunities scheduled in which it can receive the one or more synchronization signals, and certain aspects provide for determining which receive beam to use for each given search opportunity. In particular, the UE prioritizes reception using certain receive beams over other receive beams, such as to improve latency/delay in determining a suitable receive beam, transmit beam, and cell to use for communication in a wireless communication network.

In wireless communication networks, such as <NUM> NR networks that use millimeter wave (mmW) communication, a UE may need to efficiently search and detect the best transmit (Tx)-receive (Rx) beam pair to use for communication with a BS. For example, one or more BSs, each serving one or more cells, may each transmit synchronization signals using one or more transmit beams in the one or more cells that are spatially diverse. The synchronization signals are transmitted during scheduled time periods, which the UE can utilize as search opportunities. The UE may use each of the scheduled time periods during which the BS(s) transmit synchronization signals as a search opportunity, or less than all of the scheduled time periods.

In particular, the UE may use one of its receive beams during a given search opportunity to receive synchronization signals. During a search opportunity, the UE may accordingly receive any synchronization signals from any BS in any cell over any transmit beam that overlaps with the receive beam spatially and is transmitted within the search opportunity. For that receive beam, the UE can then determine one or more metrics of measured signal quality about each of the received synchronization signals, such as signal strength, received power, signal to noise ratio (SNR), channel state information (CSI), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal strength indicator (RSSI), etc. The UE may further determine the one or more metrics for any synchronization signals received using other receive beams during other search opportunities.

Based on the one or more metrics of the synchronization signals received over the plurality of receive beams, the UE may determine a particular synchronization signal has one or more metrics that meet certain criteria (e.g., highest received power among the received synchronization signals (e.g., over a time period), satisfies a threshold, etc.). Accordingly, the UE may determine to communicate with the BS that transmitted the determined synchronization signal in the cell in which the synchronization signal was transmitted using the Tx-Rx beam pair over which the synchronization signal was transmitted by the BS and received by the UE. For example, if the UE is already communicating with that BS in that cell, but on a different Tx-Rx beam pair, the UE may send an indication to the BS to switch the beam it uses for transmission. If the UE is not communicating with that BS in that cell, the UE may initiate a cell handover procedure to begin communicating with the BS in the cell using the determined Tx-Rx beam pair.

The UE may be configured with a large number of Rx beams. Accordingly, if the UE were to use each of the Rx beams equally (e.g., in a round robin fashion) for receiving synchronization signals over the number of search opportunities, it may take a long period of time to find an appropriate Tx-Rx beam pair and cell to use for communication as the best suited Rx beam may not be used for a long period of time. Accordingly, certain aspects herein provide techniques for prioritizing reception of synchronization signals using certain Rx beams over other Rx beams, such as to improve latency/delay in determining a suitable Tx-Rx beam pair and cell to use for communication in a wireless communication network.

For example, the wireless communication network <NUM> may be a New Radio (NR) or <NUM> network. As shown in <FIG>, a user equipment (UE), such as the UE 120a in the wireless communication network <NUM> communicates with a serving base station (BS), such as the BS 110a in a cell 102a in the wireless communication network <NUM>. The UE 120a includes a search scheduler configured to schedule reception of synchronization signals transmitted by BSs, such as BS 110a, on receive beams of a plurality of receive beams of the UE 120a as part of a prioritized cell/transmit beam search procedure, according to aspects disclosed herein.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the wireless communication network <NUM> may include a number of base stations (BSs) <NUM> and other network entities. A BS may be a station that communicates with user equipments (UEs). Each BS <NUM> may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In NR systems, the term "cell" and next generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), NR BS, <NUM> NB, access point (AP), or transmission reception point (TRP) may be interchangeable. In some examples, the base stations may be interconnected to one another and/or to one or more other base stations or network nodes (not shown) in wireless communication network <NUM> through various types of backhaul interfaces, such as a direct physical connection, a wireless connection, a virtual network, or the like using any suitable transport network.

ANC <NUM> may include one or more TRPs <NUM> (e.g., cells, BSs, gNBs, etc.).

<FIG> illustrates example components of BS <NUM> and UE <NUM> (as depicted in <FIG>), which may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure. For example, antennas <NUM>, processors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or controller/processor <NUM> of the UE <NUM> and/or antennas <NUM>, processors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or controller/processor <NUM> of the BS <NUM> may be used to perform the various techniques and methods described herein.

The transmit processor <NUM> may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal (e.g., for the sounding reference signal (SRS)) or synchronization signals.

The controllers/processors <NUM> and <NUM> may direct the operation at the BS <NUM> and the UE <NUM>, respectively. The processor <NUM> and/or other processors and modules at the UE <NUM> may perform or direct the execution of processes for the techniques described herein. For example, as shown in <FIG>, the processor <NUM> has a search scheduler for scheduling reception of synchronization signals transmitted by BSs on receive beams of a plurality of receive beams of the UE <NUM> as part of a prioritized cell/transmit beam search procedure, according to aspects disclosed herein.

Diagram <NUM> illustrates a communications protocol stack including a RRC layer <NUM>, a PDCP layer <NUM>, a RLC layer <NUM>, a MAC layer <NUM>, and a PHY layer <NUM>.

The PBCH carries some basic system information, such as downlink system bandwidth, timing information within a radio frame, SS burst set periodicity, system frame number, etc. The SS blocks may be organized into SS bursts to support beam sweeping.

As discussed, for UE <NUM> to communicate in a wireless communication network, such as wireless communication network <NUM>, it communicates with a BS <NUM>. Further, as discussed, the UE <NUM> may determine which BS <NUM> to communicate with based on synchronization signals received from the BSs. Accordingly, a BS <NUM> may transmit synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) (e.g., including one or more synchronization signals such as a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and secondary synchronization signal (SSS) along with PBCH). In certain aspects, the BS <NUM> may support beamforming to spatially beamform and transmit signals as different Tx beams in different spatial directions. Accordingly, the BS <NUM> may need to perform beam sweeping and transmit SSBs over each of the beams in order to cover the cell of the BS <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates an example of a SSB <NUM>, in accordance with certain aspects. The X-axis in the illustration of <FIG> indicates time (e.g., symbols), and the Y-axis indicates frequency (e.g., tones). As shown, SSB <NUM> includes a PSS <NUM>, a SSS <NUM>, a PBCH <NUM>, and a PBCH <NUM> multiplexed in the time domain and allocated to certain frequency ranges. In certain aspects, the PSS <NUM> and SSS <NUM> are allocated to the same frequency range. Further, in certain aspects, the PBCH <NUM> and PBCH <NUM> are allocated to the same frequency range. In certain aspects, the PSS <NUM> and SSS <NUM> are allocated to a portion (e.g., half) of the frequency range of the PBCH <NUM> and PBCH <NUM>. Though shown in a particular order in SSB <NUM> and of particular durations and frequency allocations, it should be noted that the order, durations, and frequency allocations of the PSS <NUM>, SSS <NUM>, PBCH <NUM>, and PBCH <NUM> may be different. Further, the SSB <NUM> may include additional or fewer reference signals or additional or fewer PBCH. Further, in certain aspects, for each of PBCH <NUM> and PBCH <NUM>, certain portions (e.g., frequency ranges, tones, resource elements (REs)) are allocated to transmission of reference sequences, such as in demodulation reference signal (DMRS) <NUM>. In certain aspects, the allocation may be different than shown in <FIG>.

In certain aspects, multiple SSBs may be assigned to a set of resources to transmit the multiple SSBs (such a set of resources for transmitting multiple SSBs may be referred to herein as a SS burst set). The multiple SSBs may be assigned to periodic resources (e.g., every <NUM>) and transmitted periodically by a BS (e.g., BS <NUM>) in a cell. For example, a SS burst set may include a number L of SSBs (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM>). In certain aspects the number L of SSBs included in a SS burst set is based on the frequency band used for transmission. For example, for sub <NUM> frequency transmissions, L may equal <NUM> or <NUM> (e.g., <NUM>-<NUM> L=<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM> L=<NUM>). In another example, for transmission above <NUM>, L may equal <NUM>. For example, transmission by the BS <NUM> in a cell may be beamformed, so that each transmission only covers a portion of the cell. Therefore, different SSBs in a SS burst set may be transmitted in different directions on different Tx beams so as to cover the cell. The number L of SSBs in a SS burst set may represent a maximum allowed number of SSBs that can be transmitted within the SS burst set. In other words, the BS <NUM> may have flexibility in terms of which SSBs are actually transmitted. For example, a BS <NUM> operating in a frequency band above <NUM> may have opportunity to transmit up to <NUM> SSBs within the SS burst set, but the BS <NUM> may transmit fewer than the allocated possible <NUM> SSBs.

<FIG> illustrates an example of the timing of transmission of SSBs, in accordance with certain aspects. As shown, a SS burst set <NUM> may be transmitted periodically every X msec (e.g., X = <NUM>). Further, the SS burst set <NUM> may have a duration of Y msec (e.g., Y < <NUM>), wherein all of the SSBs <NUM> in the SS burst set <NUM> are transmitted within the duration Y. As shown in <FIG>, each SSB <NUM> includes a PSS, SSS, and PBCH. SSB <NUM> may for example, correspond to a SSB <NUM>. SS burst set <NUM> includes a maximum of L SSBs <NUM> each having a corresponding SSB index (e.g., <NUM> through L-<NUM>) indicating its location within the SS burst set, e.g. indicating the physical transmission ordering in time of the SSBs <NUM>. Though the SSBs <NUM> are shown allocated in time consecutively in SS burst set <NUM>, it should be noted that the SSBs <NUM> may not be allocated consecutively. For example, there may be separation in time (e.g., of the same or different durations) between the SSBs <NUM> in the SS burst set <NUM>. The allocation of time of the SSBs <NUM> may correspond to a particular pattern, which may be known to the BS <NUM> and UE <NUM>.

As discussed, UE <NUM> may have a number of search opportunities scheduled in which it can receive the one or more synchronization signals, and certain aspects provide for determining which receive beam to use for each given search opportunity. In certain aspects, each search opportunity corresponds to timing of a different SS burst set transmitted by one or more BSs <NUM> (e.g., the SS burst sets from different BSs <NUM> may be scheduled at the same time). Accordingly, in certain aspects, during a search opportunity, UE <NUM> receives SS burst sets transmitted from one or more BSs <NUM>, each SS burst set including one or more synchronization signals transmitted over one or more Tx beams, as discussed. Thus, as discussed, UE <NUM> during a search opportunity receives, using one of its Rx beams, any synchronization signals from any BS in any cell over any Tx beam that overlaps with the Rx beam spatially and is transmitted within the search opportunity.

<FIG> illustrates example beamformed transmission by BSs <NUM> and beamformed reception by UE <NUM>. As shown, each of BS 110a and 110b transmits over a plurality of Tx beams 905a and 905b, respectively. Further, UE <NUM> receives over a plurality of Rx beams <NUM>. In certain aspects the Rx beams <NUM> are psuedo omni (PO) beams (e.g., that cover a <NUM> degree angle in space in three dimensions). For example, each of BS 110a and 110b may transmit synchronization signals (e.g., in SS burst sets) over Tx beams 905a and 905b, respectively, during scheduled time periods. Further, UE <NUM> uses a scheduled time period as a search opportunity and uses one of its Rx beams <NUM> to receive the synchronizations signals transmitted during the scheduled time period according to a prioritized scheduling according to aspects disclosed herein. Based on the received synchronization signals, such as over multiple search opportunities, UE <NUM> may determine to communicate with a BS <NUM> that transmitted a particular synchronization signal (e.g., that meets a criteria as discussed) in the cell in which the synchronization signal was transmitted using the Tx-Rx beam pair over which the synchronization signal was transmitted by the BS <NUM> and received by UE <NUM>.

As discussed, UE <NUM> may be configured with a large number of Rx beams <NUM>. Accordingly, if the UE <NUM> were to use each of the Rx beams <NUM> equally (e.g., in a round robin fashion) for receiving synchronization signals over the number of search opportunities, it may take a long period of time to find an appropriate Tx-Rx beam pair and cell to use for communication as the best suited Rx beam <NUM> may not be used for a long period of time. For example, it may take a long period of time for UE <NUM> to detect a new rising Tx beam (e.g., rising in signal strength), such as in high mobility cases where the UE <NUM> is in motion and channel conditions are rapidly changing. Accordingly, certain aspects herein provide techniques for prioritizing reception of synchronization signals using certain Rx beams over other Rx beams, such as to improve latency/delay in determining a suitable Tx-Rx beam pair and cell to use for communication in a wireless communication network.

In certain aspects herein, one or more Rx beams <NUM> of UE <NUM> are defined as prioritized Rx beams of a prioritized UE Rx beam set. The UE <NUM> is configured to select those Rx beams <NUM> in the prioritized UE Rx beam set with a higher priority than other Rx beams <NUM> for receiving synchronization signals during search opportunities.

For example, <FIG> illustrates a sequence of search opportunities <NUM> and <NUM> of UE <NUM>. As shown, there are two types of search opportunities: regular search opportunities <NUM> and prioritized search opportunities <NUM>. In certain aspects, prioritized search opportunities <NUM> occur more frequently in time than regular search opportunities <NUM>. For example, as shown in <FIG>, each regular search opportunity <NUM> is followed by a plurality, in this case <NUM>, prioritized search opportunities <NUM> in a repeating fashion. For ease of illustration, each of the illustrated regular search opportunities <NUM> are labeled as such in <FIG>, while the remaining search opportunities illustrated are prioritized search opportunities <NUM>.

In certain aspects, during each regular search opportunity <NUM>, one of the one or more Rx beams <NUM> (e.g., both prioritized Rx beams and the other Rx beams) of UE <NUM> is used for receiving. In certain aspects, once a particular Rx beam is used for a regular search opportunity <NUM> it is not used again for a regular search opportunity <NUM> until each of the other Rx beams <NUM> is used for a subsequent regular search opportunity <NUM>. For example, the Rx beams <NUM> may be used in a round robin fashion for the regular search opportunities <NUM>, such as if there are Rx beams <NUM>-<NUM>, they are used for regular search opportunities <NUM> in repeating order as follows <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, etc. Accordingly, in certain aspects, each of the Rx beams <NUM> is used equally across the regular search opportunities <NUM>, which may help to ensure that no Rx beam <NUM> is missed from use as a potential candidate Rx beam for wireless communication in the network.

In certain aspects, during each prioritized search opportunity <NUM>, one of the prioritized Rx beams (and not the other Rx beams) of UE <NUM> is used for receiving.

In certain aspects, the one or more Rx beams <NUM> of UE <NUM> that are defined as prioritized Rx beams of a prioritized UE Rx beam set are statically configured, such as at time of manufacture of the UE <NUM>, by signaling from BS <NUM>, during an over-the-air update, etc. For example, the prioritized Rx beams may correspond to a minimal viable PO (MVP) beam set. In particular, the prioritized Rx beams may be defined to meet one or more requirements. For example, one requirement may be for the prioritized Rx beams to provide a certain spherical coverage spatially. Another requirement may be for the prioritized Rx beams to meet a certain minimum array gain restriction across the spherical coverage spatially, meaning each direction should be received with a minimum gain summed across the prioritized Rx beams. Another requirement may be that there is a certain number of redundant beams in each direction, such as to account for potential obstacles (e.g., a hand on UE <NUM>) blocking one or more of the prioritized Rx beams at a given time, or a hole in coverage. The prioritized Rx beams are less than all of the Rx beams <NUM> of UE <NUM>, as UE <NUM> may be configured with a codebook design that has more UE beams than required to meet the requirements discussed.

In certain aspects, where the prioritized Rx beams of a prioritized UE Rx beam set are statically configured, once a particular prioritized Rx beam is used for a prioritized search opportunity <NUM> it is not used again for a prioritized search opportunity <NUM> until each of the other prioritized Rx beams is used for a subsequent prioritized search opportunity <NUM>. For example, the prioritized Rx beams may be used in a round robin fashion for the prioritized search opportunities <NUM>. Accordingly, in certain aspects, each of the prioritized Rx beams is used equally across the prioritized search opportunities <NUM>.

In certain aspects, the one or more Rx beams <NUM> of UE <NUM> that are defined as prioritized Rx beams of a prioritized UE Rx beam set are dynamically configured. For example, in certain aspects, prioritized Rx beams are selected from the Rx beams <NUM> of UE <NUM> based on measurement results on the Rx beams <NUM>, such as measured signal quality (e.g., one or more of the metrics previously discussed) of the corresponding one or more synchronization signals as received using the Rx beams <NUM>. In certain aspects, initially UE <NUM> does not have measurement results of each of the Rx beams <NUM>, e.g., when UE <NUM> is initially powered on, and therefore UE <NUM> receives synchronization signals and determines measurement results across search opportunities for each of the Rx beams <NUM> as part of an initial configuration before switching to using a prioritized search scheduling as discussed herein.

In certain aspects, UE <NUM> selects as prioritized Rx beams those Rx beams <NUM> of UE <NUM> that have a measured signal quality that satisfies a threshold (e.g., a quality/strength above a threshold). For example, UE <NUM> collapses (e.g., as a MAX function) across filtered received power all available SSBs and all cells on each Rx beam <NUM>. Those Rx beams <NUM> whose collapsed value is above a threshold may be selected as a prioritized Rx beam.

In certain aspects, once UE <NUM> selects the prioritized Rx beams, it does not reevaluate and reselect a new set of prioritized Rx beams until after a time period. In certain aspects, the time period is based on the number of prioritized Rx beams selected. For example, the time period may be a number of prioritized search opportunities <NUM> less than, equal to, or greater than the number of prioritized Rx beams. For example, in certain aspects, the time period is set so that each of the selected prioritized Rx beams is used (e.g., <NUM> or N number of times) during a prioritized search opportunity <NUM>. The prioritized Rx beams may be used for prioritized search opportunities <NUM> in order of measured signal quality (e.g., best to worst), in a round robin fashion, etc..

In certain aspects, each of the prioritized Rx beams is associated with a counter or flag. Each time one of the prioritized Rx beams is used for a search opportunity, including either a regular search opportunity <NUM> or a prioritized search opportunity <NUM>, the counter is incremented or flag set indicating use of the prioritized Rx beam. Once each prioritized Rx beam is used <NUM> or N number of times, the UE <NUM> reevaluates and reselects a new set of prioritized Rx beams. In such aspects, the searching of prioritized Rx beams across both regular search opportunities <NUM> and prioritized search opportunities <NUM> may be more evenly distributed, helping to further reduce latency.

In certain aspects, different Rx beams are selected for search opportunities adjacent to one another, including both regular search opportunities <NUM> and prioritized search opportunities <NUM>, again leading to a more evenly distributed use of Rx beams, helping to further reduce latency.

Accordingly, certain aspects herein provide certain benefits, such as instead of blindly using each Rx beam <NUM> all the time, a subset is prioritized, which can shorten the delay in finding a new rising cell/beam. Another benefit is avoiding wasting search opportunities on those Rx beams <NUM> that have ignorable or no gains (e.g., in case of blockage), or that are spatially redundant in the codebook.

<FIG> illustrates a portion of the sequence of search opportunities <NUM> and <NUM> shown in <FIG>. The numbers shown in each of the search opportunities <NUM> and <NUM> corresponds to a different Rx beam <NUM>-<NUM> of UE <NUM>. As shown, each of regular search opportunities <NUM> is used for Rx beams <NUM>-<NUM> in a round robin fashion. In this example, the UE <NUM> is configured to reevaluate the prioritized Rx beams every three prioritized search opportunities <NUM>. Initially, UE <NUM> determines that Rx beams <NUM> and <NUM> (e.g., in that order) are prioritized Rx beams. Accordingly, Rx beams <NUM> and <NUM> are used for the first, second, and third prioritized search opportunities <NUM> in a round robin fashion as shown. The UE <NUM> may then reevaluate and determine that Rx beams <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> (e.g., in that order) are prioritized Rx beams. Accordingly, Rx beams <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are used for the fourth, fifth, and sixth prioritized search opportunities <NUM>. The UE <NUM> may then reevaluate and determine that Rx beams <NUM> and <NUM> (e.g., in that order) are prioritized Rx beams. Accordingly, Rx beams <NUM> and <NUM> are used for the seventh, eighth, and ninth prioritized search opportunities <NUM> in a round robin fashion as shown. The UE <NUM> may then reevaluate and determine that Rx beams <NUM> and <NUM> (e.g., in that order) are prioritized Rx beams. Accordingly, Rx beams <NUM> and <NUM> are used for the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth prioritized search opportunities <NUM> in a round robin fashion as shown.

<FIG> is a flow diagram illustrating example operations <NUM> for wireless communication, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations <NUM> may be performed by a UE, such as the UE <NUM>.

The operations <NUM> begin, at block <NUM>, by selecting, for each of a plurality of periodic search opportunities, one receive beam of a plurality of receive beams for receiving at least one synchronization signal. The plurality of periodic search opportunities includes a plurality of regular search opportunities and a plurality of prioritized search opportunities. The plurality of receive beams include at least one prioritized receive beam and at least one additional receive beam. As shown, the selecting of block <NUM> includes performing blocks <NUM> and <NUM>. At block <NUM>, the UE selects from the at least one prioritized receive beam for each of the plurality of prioritized search opportunities. At block <NUM>, the UE selects from the plurality of receive beams for each of the plurality of regular search opportunities. Continuing at block <NUM>, the UE receives, at each of the plurality of periodic search opportunities, the corresponding synchronization signal using the corresponding selected receive beam.

In certain aspects as discussed, the at least one prioritized receive beam is statically defined. In certain other aspects, the UE dynamically determines the at least one prioritized receive beam based on measured signal quality of the corresponding at least one synchronization signal as received using the plurality of receive beams, as discussed. In some such aspects, the at least one prioritized receive beam is dynamically determined once every time period. In some such aspects, the time period is based on a number of the at least one prioritized receive beam. In other such aspects, the at least one prioritized receive beam is dynamically determined as at least one of the plurality of receive beams with a measured signal quality above a threshold.

In certain aspects, different receive beams are selected for adjacent search opportunities as discussed.

In certain aspects, the plurality of periodic search opportunities include a number of periods, each period including a regular search opportunity followed by multiple prioritized search opportunities as discussed.

In certain aspects, the plurality of receive beams includes a plurality of psuedo-omni receive beams as discussed.

In certain aspects, the at least one synchronization signal corresponds to at least one transmit beam of at least one base station as discussed.

In certain aspects, the UE further performs one of a beam switch or a handover procedure based on the receiving.

In certain aspects, the plurality of periodic search opportunities includes a plurality of time resources assigned to synchronization signal burst sets.

It should be noted that these certain aspects of operations <NUM> described with respect to separate paragraphs may be combined with one another in any combination including one or more of the aspects.

The transceiver <NUM> is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communications device <NUM> via an antenna <NUM>, such as the various signals as described herein, for example, for transmitting uplink transmissions with different transmission configuration.

The processing system <NUM> includes a processor <NUM> coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory <NUM> via a bus <NUM>. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium/memory <NUM> is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that when executed by the processor <NUM>, cause the processor <NUM> to perform the operations illustrated in <FIG>, or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein for search scheduling. In certain aspects, computer-readable medium/memory <NUM> stores code <NUM> for selecting a receive beam and code <NUM> for receiving using the selected receive beam. In certain aspects, the processor <NUM> has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium/memory <NUM>. The processor <NUM> includes circuitry <NUM> for selecting a receive beam and circuitry <NUM> for receiving using the selected receive beam.

Moreover, operations illustrated in flow diagrams with dashed lines indicate optional features.

Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

In the case of a user equipment <NUM> (see <FIG>), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus.

Further, it should be appreciated that modules and/or other appropriate means for performing the methods and techniques described herein can be downloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a user equipment and/or base station as applicable. Alternatively, various methods described herein can be provided via storage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage medium such as a compact disc (CD) or floppy disk, etc.), such that a user equipment and/or base station can obtain the various methods upon coupling or providing the storage means to the device.

Claim 1:
A method (<NUM>) for wireless communication at a user equipment, UE, the method (<NUM>) comprising:
selecting (<NUM>), for each of a plurality of periodic search opportunities, one receive beam of a plurality of receive beams for receiving at least one synchronization signal, the plurality of periodic search opportunities comprising a plurality of regular search opportunities and a plurality of prioritized search opportunities, the plurality of receive beams comprising at least one prioritized receive beam and at least one additional receive beam, the selecting for each of the plurality of periodic search opportunities comprising:
selecting (<NUM>) from the at least one prioritized receive beam for each of the plurality of prioritized search opportunities; and
selecting (<NUM>) from the plurality of receive beams for each of the plurality of regular search opportunities; and
receiving (<NUM>), at each of the plurality of periodic search opportunities, the corresponding at least one synchronization signal using the corresponding selected receive beam.