Patent ID: 12250669

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspect may be beneficially utilized on other aspects without specific recitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer readable mediums for beam management between two or more user equipment (UEs). In some aspects, the disclosure is directed to methods and techniques for performing various beam management procedures (e.g., P1, P2, and P3 procedures) on a sidelink communication between two or more UEs.

The following description provides examples, and is not limiting of the scope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For instance, the methods described may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described with respect to some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover such an apparatus or method which is practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to, or other than, the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim. The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication technologies, such as 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often used interchangeably.

A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as NR (e.g. 5G RA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. U IRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2).

New Radio (NR) is an emerging wireless communications technology under development in conjunction with the 5G Technology Forum (5GTF). NR access (e.g., 5G NR) may support various wireless communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) targeting wide bandwidth (e.g., 80 MHz or beyond), millimeter wave (mmW) targeting high carrier frequency (e.g., 25 GHz or beyond), massive machine type communications MTC (mMTC) targeting non-backward compatible MTC techniques, and/or mission critical targeting ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). These services may include latency and reliability requirements. These services may also have different transmission time intervals (TTI) to meet respective quality of service (QoS) requirements. In addition, these services may co-exist in the same subframe.

The techniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks and radio technologies mentioned above as well as other wireless networks and radio technologies. For clarity, while aspects may be described herein using terminology commonly associated with 3G and/or 4G wireless technologies, aspects of the present disclosure can be applied in other generation-based communication systems, such as 5G and later, including NR technologies.

FIG.1illustrates an example wireless communication network100in which aspects of the present disclosure may be performed. For example, the wireless communication network100may be an NR system (e.g., a 5G NR network).

As illustrated inFIG.1, the wireless communication network100may include a number of base stations110and other network entities. A base station may be a station that communicates with user equipment (UE). Each base station110may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to a coverage area of a Node B (NB) and/or a NB subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the term “cell” and base station, next generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), access point (AP), distributed unit (DU), carrier, or transmission reception point (TRP) may be used interchangeably. In some examples, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according to the location of a mobile base station. 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 network100through 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.

In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular radio access technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. A RAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface, etc. A frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, a subcarrier, a frequency channel, a tone, a subband, etc. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.

A base station may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and/or other types of cells. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by UEs having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in the home, etc.). A base station for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro base station. A base station for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico base station. A base station for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto base station or a home base station. In the example shown inFIG.1, the base stations110a,110band110cmay be macro base stations for the macro cells102a,102band102c, respectively. The base station110xmay be a pico base station for a pico cell102x. The base stations110yand110zmay be femto base stations for the femto cells102yand102z, respectively. A base station may support one or multiple (e.g., three) cells.

Wireless communication network100may also include relay stations. A relay station is a station that receives a transmission of data and/or other information from an upstream station (e.g., a base station or a UE) and sends a transmission of the data and/or other information to a downstream station (e.g., a UE or a base station). A relay station may also be a UE that relays transmissions for other UEs. In the example shown inFIG.1, a relay station110rmay communicate with the base station110aand a UE120rin order to facilitate communication between the base station110aand the UE120r. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay base station, a relay, etc.

Wireless communication network100may be a heterogeneous network that includes base stations of different types, e.g., macro base station, pico base station, femto base station, relays, etc. These different types of base stations may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and different impact on interference in the wireless communication network100. For example, macro base station may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 20 Watts) whereas pico base station, femto base station, and relays may have a lower transmit power level (e.g., 1 Watt).

Wireless communication network100may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for both synchronous and asynchronous operation.

A network controller130may couple to a set of base stations and provide coordination and control for these base stations. The network controller130may communicate with the base stations110via a backhaul. The base stations110may also communicate with one another (e.g., directly or indirectly) via wireless or wireline backhaul.

The UEs120(e.g.,120x,120y, etc.) may be dispersed throughout the wireless communication network100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be referred to as a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet computer, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, an appliance, a medical device or medical equipment, a biometric sensor/device, a wearable device such as a smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, a smart wrist band, smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring, a smart bracelet, etc.), an entertainment device (e.g., a music device, a video device, a satellite radio, etc.), a vehicular component or sensor, a smart meter/sensor, industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device that is configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium. Some UEs may be considered machine-type communication (MTC) devices or evolved MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc., that may communicate with a base station, another device (e.g., remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node may provide, for example, connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication link. Some UEs may be considered Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, which may be narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) devices.

Certain wireless networks (e.g., LTE) utilize orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system bandwidth. For example, the spacing of the subcarriers may be 15 kHz and the minimum resource allocation (called a “resource block” (RB)) may be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal Fast Fourier Transfer (FFT) size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024 or 2048 for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (e.g., 6 RBs), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 MHz, respectively. In LTE, the basic transmission time interval (TTI) or packet duration is the 1 ms subframe. In NR, a subframe is still 1 ms, but the basic TTI is referred to as a slot. A subframe contains a variable number of slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, . . . slots) depending on the subcarrier spacing. The NR RB is 12 consecutive frequency subcarriers. NR may support a base subcarrier spacing of 15 KHz and other subcarrier spacing may be defined with respect to the base subcarrier spacing, for example, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, etc. The symbol and slot lengths scale with the subcarrier spacing. The CP length also depends on the subcarrier spacing.

NR may utilize OFDM with a CP on the uplink and downlink and include support for half-duplex operation using TDD. Beamforming may be supported and beam direction may be dynamically configured. MIMO transmissions with precoding may also be supported. In some examples, MIMO configurations in the DL may support up to 8 transmit antennas with multi-layer DL transmissions up to 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE. In some examples, multi-layer transmissions with up to 2 streams per UE may be supported. Aggregation of multiple cells may be supported with up to 8 serving cells.

In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled. A scheduling entity (e.g., a base station) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. The scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more subordinate entities. That is, for scheduled communication, subordinate entities utilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity. Base stations are not the only entities that may function as a scheduling entity. In some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity and may schedule resources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more other UEs), and the other UEs may utilize the resources scheduled by the UE for wireless communication. In some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, and/or in a mesh network. In a mesh network example, UEs may communicate directly with one another in addition to communicating with a scheduling entity.

In some examples, two or more subordinate entities (e.g., UEs) may communicate with each other using sidelink signals. Real-world applications of such sidelink communications may include public safety, proximity services, UE-to-network relaying, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle to everything (V2X) communications, Internet of Everything (IoE) communications, IoT communications, mission-critical mesh, and/or various other suitable applications. Generally, a sidelink signal may refer to a signal communicated from one subordinate entity (e.g., UE1) to another subordinate entity (e.g., UE2) without relaying that communication through the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or base station), even though the scheduling entity may be utilized for scheduling and/or control purposes. In some examples, the sidelink signals may be communicated using a licensed spectrum (unlike wireless local area networks, which typically use an unlicensed spectrum).

In some examples of the wireless communication network100, sidelink signals may be used between UEs without necessarily relying on scheduling or control information from a base station. For example, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs122and124) may communicate with each other using peer to peer (P2P) or sidelink signals126without relaying that communication through a base station (e.g., base station110a). In a further example, UE132is illustrated communicating with UE134outside of cell102acoverage. Any of the UEs (122,124,132,134) may function as a scheduling entity or a primary sidelink device, while the other UE may function as a subordinate entity or a non-primary (e.g., secondary) sidelink device. Further, the UEs (122,124,132,134) may be configured to perform beam management procedures for a sidelink as described throughout the disclosure. Accordingly, one or more of the UEs may function as a scheduling entity in a device-to-device (D2D), peer-to-peer (P2P), or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network, and/or in a mesh network to initiate and/or schedule certain beam management procedures.

InFIG.1, a solid line with double arrows indicates desired transmissions between a UE and a serving base station designated to serve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink, or between a UE and a UE in a D2D communication (e.g., sidelink). A finely dashed line with double arrows indicates potentially interfering transmissions between a UE and a base station. Thus, in a wireless communication system with scheduled access to time-frequency resources and having a cellular configuration, a P2P configuration, or a mesh configuration, a base station and one or more UEs may communicate utilizing the scheduled resources.

FIG.2is a diagram conceptually illustrating a sidelink communication between a first UE202aand one or more second UEs202b(collectively, “second UE202b”). In various examples, any one of the first UE202aand the second UE202bmay correspond to a UE or other suitable node in the wireless communication network100. For example, any one of the first UE202aand the second UE202bmay correspond to UE122,124,132, and/or134.

In some examples, the first UE202aand the second UE202bmay utilize sidelink signals for direct D2D communication. Sidelink signals may include sidelink data206(i.e., sidelink traffic) and sidelink control information208. Broadly, the first UE202aand one or more a second UEs202bmay communicate sidelink data206and sidelink control information208using one or more data channels and control channels. In some aspects, data channels include a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) and/or sidelink shared channel (SL-SCH). In some aspects, control channels include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and/or physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH).

Sidelink control information208may include a source transmit signal (STS), a direction selection signal (DSS), and a destination receive signal (DRS). The DSS/STS may provide for a UE202(e.g.,202a,202b) to request a duration of time to keep a sidelink channel available for a sidelink signal; and the DRS may provide for the UE202to indicate the availability of the sidelink channel, e.g., for a requested duration of time. Accordingly, the first UE202aand the second UE202bmay negotiate the availability and use of sidelink channel resources prior to communication of sidelink data206information.

In some configurations, any one or more of the first UE202aor the second UE202bmay be responsible for initiating and/or scheduling traffic in a D2D communication, including the communication of sidelink data206and sidelink control information208, and maintenance of the sidelink communication channel(s). For example, the first UE202amay be responsible for scheduling and/or initiating beam management procedures (e.g., initial beam selection procedures, beam sweeping procedures, beam refinement procedures, etc.) between the first UE202aand the second UE202b, as disclosed herein. In this example, the second UE202breceives scheduling control information, including but not limited to beam management scheduling information, synchronization or timing information, or other control information.

The channels or carriers illustrated inFIG.2are not necessarily all of the channels or carriers that may be utilized between a first UE202aand a second UE202bin a sidelink communication, and those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other channels or carriers may be utilized in addition to those illustrated, such as other data, control, and feedback channels.

FIG.3illustrates example components of a first UE302and a second UE304, which may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure. For example, antennas352, processors358,364, and/or controller/processor380of the first UE302and/or antennas334, processors320,338, and/or controller/processor340of the second UE304may be used to perform the various techniques and methods described herein. In various examples, any one of the first UE302and the second UE304may correspond to a UE or other suitable node in the wireless communication network100. For example, any of the first UE302and the second UE304may correspond to UE122,124,132, and/or134.

According to some aspects, a transmit processor320at the first UE302may receive data from a data source312and control information from a controller/processor340. The control information may be for a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The data may be for the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), etc. The processor320may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit processor320may also generate reference symbols, such as for the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and cell-specific reference signal (CRS), and may provide output symbol streams to the modulators (MODs)332a-332t. Each modulator332may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a signal. Signals from modulators332a-332tmay be transmitted via the antennas334a-334t, respectively.

At the second UE304, the antennas352a-352rmay receive the transmitted signals from the first UE302and may provide the received signals to the demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers354a-354r, respectively. Each demodulator354may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A receive processor358may obtain received symbols from all the demodulators354a-354r, process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the second UE304to a data sink360, and provide decoded control information to a controller/processor380.

At the second UE304, a transmit processor364may receive and process data (e.g., for the PSSCH) from a data source362and control information (e.g., for the PSCCH) from the controller/processor380. The transmit processor364may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal (e.g., for the sounding reference signal (SRS)). The symbols from the transmit processor364may be processed by the demodulators in transceivers354a-354r(e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the first UE302. At the first UE302, signals from the second UE304may be received by the antennas334, processed by the modulators332, and further processed by a receive processor338to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the second UE304. The receive processor338may provide the decoded data to a data sink339and the decoded control information to the controller/processor340.

In some aspects, the first UE302and the second UE304include multiple antennas (334athrough334tand352athrough352r) configured for beamforming. That is the first UE302and the second UE304may be configured for directional signal transmission or reception. For a beamformed transmission, the amplitude and phase of each antenna in an array of antennas may be precoded, or controlled to create a desired (e.g., directional) pattern of constructive and destructive interference in the wavefront. The use of such multiple antenna technology enables the wireless communication system to exploit the spatial domain to support spatial multiplexing and transmit diversity.

The controllers/processors340and380may direct the operation at the first UE302and the second UE304, respectively. The controller/processor340and/or other processors and modules at the first UE302may perform or direct the execution of processes for the techniques described herein such as beam management (e.g., initial beam selection procedures, beam sweeping procedures, beam refinement procedures, etc.). The memories342and382may store data and program codes for first UE302and the second UE304, respectively. The schedulers344and384may schedule the first UE302and/or the second UE304for transmitting and receiving data.

FIG.4is a diagram showing an example of a frame format400for NR. The transmission timeline for each data transmission and reception may be partitioned into units of radio frames402. In NR, the basic transmission time interval (TTI) may be referred to as a slot. In NR, a subframe may contain a variable number of slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, . . . , N slots) depending on the subcarrier spacing (SCS). NR may support a base SCS of 15 KHz and other SCS may be defined with respect to the base SCS (e.g., 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, etc.). In the example shown inFIG.4, the SCS is 120 kHz. As shown inFIG.4, the subframe404(subframe 0) contains 8 slots (slots 0, 1, . . . , 7) with a 0.125 ms duration. The symbol and slot lengths scale with the subcarrier spacing. Each slot may include a variable number of symbol (e.g., OFDM symbols) periods (e.g., 7 or 14 symbols) depending on the SCS. For the 120 kHz SCS shown inFIG.4, each of the slot406(slot 0) and slot408(slot 1) includes 14 symbol periods (slots with indices 0, 1, . . . , 13) with a 0.25 ms duration.

In sidelink, a sidelink synchronization signal block (S-SSB), referred to as the SS block or SSB, is transmitted. The SSB may include a primary SS (PSS), a secondary SS (SSS), and/or a two symbol physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH). In some examples, the SSB can be transmitted up to sixty-four times with up to sixty-four different beam directions. The up to sixty-four transmissions of the SSB are referred to as the SS burst set. SSBs in an SS burst set may be transmitted in the same frequency region, while SSBs in different SS bursts sets can be transmitted in different frequency regions.

In the example shown inFIG.4, in the subframe404, SSB is transmitted in each of the slots (slots 0, 1, . . . , 7). In the example shown inFIG.4, in the slot406(slot 0), an SSB410is transmitted in the symbols 4, 5, 6, 7 and an SSB412is transmitted in the symbols 8, 9, 10, 11, and in the slot408(slot 1), an SSB414is transmitted in the symbols 2, 3, 4, 5 and an SSB416is transmitted in the symbols 6, 7, 8, 9, and so on. The SSB may include a primary SS (PSS), a secondary (SSS), and a two symbol physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH). The PSS and SSS may be used by UEs to establish sidelink communication (e.g., transmission and/or reception of data and/or control channels). The PSS may provide half-frame timing, the SS may provide cyclic prefix (CP) length and frame timing. The PBSCH carries some basic system information, such as system bandwidth, timing information within radio frame, SS burst set periodicity, system frame number, etc. The SSBs may be organized into SS bursts to support beam sweeping. Further system information such as, remaining minimum system information (RMSI), system information blocks (SIBs), and other system information (OSI) can be transmitted on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) in certain subframes.

Sidelink P1 Procedure

In 5G NR, the beam management procedure for determining a beam pair link may be referred to as a P1 procedure. As described herein, one or more UEs may use certain beam management procedures to overcome path-losses and to enhance link budget/signal to noise ratio (SNR) over sidelink channels. Beam management may refer to discovering, establishing, and/or refining a sidelink between two UEs, such as a first UE and a second UE.

FIG.5illustrates an example P1 procedure according to certain aspects of the disclosure. A first UE502may select a first beam506(a transmit beam) for transmission of a first signal used for beam management of a sidelink between the first UE502and a second UE504. In one example, the first UE502randomly selects the first beam506from a plurality of beams having different spatial directions such that the plurality of beams cover several spatial locations surrounding the first UE502. In another example, the first UE502selects the first beam506from one or more beams corresponding to (e.g. used for) a sidelink resource (e.g., communication of a reference signal) of the first UE502. The correspondence between the sidelink resource and the initial selected first beam506may be predetermined as defined by 3GPP and/or configured by the network (e.g., base station110). In another example, the first UE502may select the first beam506from a plurality of beams based on a sounding reference signal (SRS) received from the second UE (i.e., the first UE502selects the first beam506based on the beam that received the SRS).

The first UE502may transmit the first signal in a plurality of transmissions, wherein each of the plurality of transmissions is transmitted via the selected first beam506according to a first periodic interval. For example, the first signal may be transmitted by the first beam506at time m, m+1, m+2, m+3, etc. The first signal is configured to provide the second UE504with a basis for selecting, from a plurality of beams, a second beam508(a receive beam) for receiving data on the sidelink. In this example, the second UE504may utilize a plurality of receive beams to receive one or more of the plurality of transmissions of the first signal, and measure each received transmission of the first signal corresponding to the receive beam used to receive the transmission. Based on the measurements, the second UE504may select a second beam508for receiving data from the first UE502. In some cases, the selected second beam508corresponds to the receive beam used to receive the transmission of the first signal having the best measurement. In some examples, the best measurement may correspond to a measurement that, among the plurality of receive beams, indicates the highest received power, the highest signal quality, etc. A measurement may be, for example, a received power or received quality of the first signal such as a channel quality indicator (CQI) measurement, a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, a signal to noise ratio (SNR) measurement, or any other suitable signal strength or quality indicating measurement.

Once the second UE has selected the second beam508, the second UE504may transmit a second signal to the first UE502. Here, the second signal may be transmitted in a second plurality of transmissions according to a second periodic interval. For example, the second signal may be transmitted by second UE504at time n, n+1, n+2, n+3, etc. In some examples, the second signal is configured to provide the first UE502with a basis for selecting a fourth beam512for receiving data from the second UE504on the sidelink.

In one configuration, the second UE504may utilize a third beam510for making the second plurality of transmissions, wherein the third beam510includes the same spatial dimensions as the selected second beam508. For example, although the third beam510is used for transmission of data and the second beam508is used for reception of data, the third beam510may use the same directional aspects used by the second beam508.

In another configuration, the second UE504may utilize the second beam508for making the second plurality of transmissions. For example, if the communication on the sidelink is performed according to a time division duplex (TDD) communication protocol, then the second UE504may transmit and receive data over the same beam (i.e., the second beam508). In yet another configuration, the second UE504randomly selects the third beam510.

The advantage to using a third beam510having the same directional aspects used by the second beam508, or using the second beam508for both transmission and reception, is reduced feedback required between one or more UEs in a sidelink communication. For example, the second UE504is not initially required to perform a beam sweep of transmission beams to determine the third beam510. This saves time because, instead of performing a beam sweep and analyzing feedback, the transmit beams and receive beams are selected by both the first UE502and the second UE504, transparent to the other UE.

The first UE502may utilize a plurality of receive beams to receive one or more of the plurality of transmissions of the second signal. The first UE502may measure each received transmission of the second signal as received using one of the plurality of receive beams. Based on the measurements, the first UE502may select a fourth beam512for receiving data transmitted by the second UE504. In some cases, the selected fourth beam512corresponds to the receive beam used to receive the transmission of the second signal having the best measurement.

In some configurations, the signals communicated between the first UE502and the second UE504include S-SSBs. In other configurations, the signals communicated between the first UE502and the second UE include a reference signal. For example, the signal may be a sounding reference signal (SRS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a beam management reference signal (BM-RS). In some examples, the BM-RS includes a reference signal configured for sidelink beam management between the first UE and the second UE.

For example, without S-SSB, the first UE502and the second UE504may transmit/receive periodic reference signals over the beams to establish an initial link. In some configurations, the reference signals may be periodic reference signals, where the periodicity and time-frequency resources may be based on one or more of a sidelink resource of the UE (e.g.,502,504), or system information broadcast by the UE.

In some configurations, the first UE502and the second UE504may be configured to broadcast synchronization signals (e.g., PSS, SSS, and PSBCH). The UEs (502,504) may receive the synchronization signals, and derive carrier frequency and slot timing from the synchronization signals. For example, the synchronization signals may include timing information based on one or more of a satellite (e.g., a global positioning satellite (GPS) (e.g., the United States global navigation satellite system (GNSS), the Russian GLONASS, the Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), or the European Union's Galileo satellite)), a network (e.g., communicated by a base station110inFIG.1via a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), downlink control information (DCI), etc.), or a timing device (e.g., a local clock, a remote clock in communication with the UEs via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.). Accordingly, the first UE502and the second UE504may synchronize their timing or internal clock systems to a common reference time for performing one or more of the beam management procedures disclosed herein.

In some examples, one or more of the first UE502or the second UE504may determine a first starting time for transmitting the first signal by the first UE502. In some examples, one or more of the first UE502or the second UE504may determine a second starting time for transmitting, by the second UE504, the second signal. In some examples, the first starting time and the second starting time are based on one or more of: a network configuration communicated to the first UE502and/or second UE504via the network, a sidelink resource of the first UE, or a periodic global positioning system (GPS) signal.

Sidelink P2 Procedure

In 5G NR, the beam management procedures for beam refinement of beam pairs may be referred to as the P2 and P3 procedures.FIGS.6A,6B, and6Cillustrate example P2 procedures. It should be noted that each of the P1, P2, and P3 procedures as described herein may be used in conjunction to perform beam management. Further, in certain embodiments, one or more of the P1, P2, and P3 procedures as described herein may be used with other P1, P2, or P3 procedures than those described herein.

In a first example of the P2 procedure, a first UE602may transmit a message configured to initiate a beam sweeping operation for beam management of a sidelink between the first UE602and the second UE604. That is, the first UE602transmits the message to the second UE604via a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) established over the sidelink. The message may be transmitted via one or more slots in the PSCCH. In one aspect of the first example, the first UE602may be the first and only UE to perform a beam sweep of transmit beams (for example, seeFIG.6B). Alternatively, the first UE602may be the first to perform the beam sweep of transmit beams, followed by a beam sweep of transmit beams by the second UE604(for example, seeFIG.6A).

In some configurations, the beam sweeping operation includes transmitting, by the first UE602, a first plurality of signals, wherein each signal of the first plurality of signals is transmitted to the second UE604via one of a first plurality of beams (transmit beams). Accordingly, each of the first plurality of signals is associated with one of the first plurality of beams. In some examples, each of the first plurality of beams are based on an initial beam previously established by the first UE602in the sidelink communication with the second UE604. For example, each of the first plurality of beams may be spatially related to the initial beam (e.g., same or similar direction), and/or may include a plurality of narrower beams over the spatial area of the initial beam. For example, the initial beam may correspond to a beam selected by the first UE502, and used to transmit data in the P1 procedure described above.

The second UE604receives the first plurality of signals transmitted on the first plurality of beams from the first UE602using a previously established receive beam. In some examples, the previously established receive beam may correspond to a beam selected by the second UE504, and used to receive data in the P1 procedure described above. The first plurality of signals are configured to provide the second UE604with a basis for measuring (e.g., signal power, signal quality, etc.) each of the first plurality of beams. For example, the second UE604may determine a received power or received quality of the first signal such as a CQI, an RSRP, an SNR, or any other suitable signal strength or quality indicating measurement of each of the plurality of signals received, and determine which one of the first plurality of signals has a suitable (e.g., highest) measurement. The second UE may then select a first preferred beam from the first plurality of beams as the beam associated with the signal having the suitable SNR. In some examples, each of the first plurality of signals is transmitted in the same slot comprising the message configured to initiate a beam sweeping operation for beam management of a sidelink between the first UE602and the second UE604.

After selecting the first preferred beam, the second UE604may generate a first report for transmission to the first UE602, indicating the first preferred beam. In some examples, the first preferred beam is selected from the first plurality of beams based on its SNR, or other measure of the signal. The second UE604may transmit the first report to the first UE602. In some examples, the first UE602receives the first report and, based on the indication of the first preferred beam, switches from the initial beam previously used by the first UE602to the first preferred beam for transmission.

In one configuration, the first report is communicated via one or more scheduled resources of physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) identified in the message configured to initiate the beam sweeping operation, or in another communication (e.g., transmission and/or reception of data and/or control channels) between the UEs. In some examples, the first report is communicated over one or more resources of the PSCCH.

In some configurations, the message configured to initiate the beam sweeping operation also provides a time delay between resources used for transmission of the first plurality of signals and resources used for the first report. For example, the first UE602may determine the time delay to provide the second UE604with enough time to calculate SNRs, or other measures, for the first plurality of beams. In some configurations, the message configured to initiate the beam sweeping operation is further configured to indicate a time delay between the message and the resources used for transmission of the first plurality of signals. Here, the first UE602may determine the time delay to provide the second UE604with enough time to prepare for the beam sweeping operation.

In some configurations, the beam sweeping operation includes receiving, by the first UE602, a second plurality of signals in response to the message and after receiving the first report. That is, the second UE604is configured to transmit the second plurality of signals after transmitting the first report. The second plurality of signals may be configured to provide the first UE602with a basis for measuring signal quality at one or more of a second plurality of beams. For example, the first UE604may determine a received power or received quality of the first signal such as a CQI, an RSRP, an SNR, or any other suitable signal strength or quality indicating measurement of each of the signals received, and determine which one of the first plurality of signals has a suitable (e.g., highest) measurement. In some examples, the second UE604delays transmission of the second plurality of signals for a period of time after transmitting the first report. For example, the first UE602or the second UE604may provide an indication of the delay in the message, or in another communication.

The second UE604is configured to transmit each signal of the second plurality of signals via one of the second plurality of beams based on an initial beam previously used by the second UE604. That is, the first UE602is configured to receive one or more of the second plurality of signals, with each signal being transmitted to the first UE602using one of the second plurality of beams. For example, each of the second plurality of beams may be spatially related to the initial beam (e.g., same or similar direction), and/or may include a plurality of narrower beams over the spatial area of the initial beam. In some examples, the initial beam may correspond to a beam selected by the second UE504, and used to transmit data in the P1 procedure described above.

The first UE602may measure each received transmission of the second plurality of signals to determine a second preferred beam from the second plurality of beams. In some examples, the determination is based on signal power and/or signal quality measured at one or more of the second plurality of beams. The first UE602may then select the second preferred beam from the second plurality of beams as the beam based on signal power and/or signal quality (e.g., the beam associated with the signal having the suitable SNR). In some examples, the first UE602may generate and transmit a second report indicating the second preferred beam to the second UE604. In some examples, the second report is transmitted using one or more PSCCH resources, or one or more scheduled PSFCH resources identified in the message and/or based on a sidelink resource of the first UE602. For example, the second report may be transmitted using a sidelink resource of the first UE602indicated by 3GPP and/or configured by the network (e.g., base station110).

In some configurations, each of the second plurality of signals is transmitted in the same slot that contains the message configured to initiate the beam sweeping operation between the first UE602and a second UE604. In other configurations, the message configured to initiate the beam sweeping operation is further configured to indicate a time delay between the message and the resources used for transmission of the second plurality of signals

In a second example of the P2 procedure, the first UE602may transmit a message configured to initiate the beam sweeping operation between the first UE602and the second UE604. In one aspect of this example, the second UE604may be the first and only UE to perform a beam sweep of transmit beams (for example, seeFIG.6C). Alternatively, the second UE604may be the first to perform the beam sweep of transmit beams, followed by a beam sweep of transmit beams by the first UE602.

In the second example, the beam sweeping operation includes receiving, by the first UE602, a first plurality of signals in response to the message configured to initiate the beam sweeping operation. Each signal of the first plurality of signals is transmitted via one of a first plurality of beams based on an initial beam previously used by the second UE604. That is, the second UE604transmits the first plurality of signals over a first plurality of transmit beams that are based on a transmit beam determined, for example, at the P1 procedure discussed above. For example, each of the first plurality of beams may be spatially related to the initial beam (e.g., same or similar direction), and/or may include a plurality of narrower beams over the spatial area of the initial beam. For example, the initial beam may correspond to a beam selected by the first UE602, and used to transmit data in the P1 procedure described above. The first plurality of signals are configured to provide the first UE602with a basis for measuring signal quality at each of the first plurality of beams.

In some configurations, the first UE602determines a first preferred beam from the first plurality of beams based on signal quality measured at one or more of the first plurality of beams. The first UE602may then select the first preferred beam as the beam associated with the signal having suitable measurement (e.g., SNR). After selecting the first preferred beam, the first UE602may generate a first report indicating selection of the first preferred beam to the second UE604, and transmit the first report to the second UE604. In response to the first report, the second UE604may switch from the initial transmit beam previously used by the second UE to the first preferred beam.

In some configurations, the first UE602may transmit a second plurality of signals after transmitting the first report, wherein each signal of the second plurality of signals is transmitted to the second UE604via one of a second plurality of beams based on an initial beam previously used by the first UE602. For example, each of the second plurality of beams may be spatially related to the initial beam (e.g., same or similar direction), and/or may include a plurality of narrower beams over the spatial area of the initial beam. For example, the initial beam may correspond to a beam selected by the first UE602, and used to transmit data in the P1 procedure described above. The second plurality of signals are configured to provide the second UE604with a basis for measuring signal quality at each of the second plurality of beams. In some configurations, each of the second plurality of signals and/or first plurality of signals are transmitted in the same slot comprising the message configured to initiate a beam sweeping operation for beam management of a sidelink between the first UE602and a second UE604.

In response to the second plurality of signals, the second UE604may measure and provide a second report to the first UE602. In some examples, the report is transmitted using one or more PSCCH resources, or one or more scheduled PSFCH resources identified in the message. The second report may indicate a second preferred beam of the second plurality of beams. In response to the second report, the first UE602may switch from the initial transmit beam previously used by the first UE to the second preferred beam.

Sidelink P3 Procedure

In 5G NR, the beam management procedures for beam refinement of a receive-beam may be referred to as P3 procedures.FIG.7illustrates an example of P3 procedures. It should be noted that aspects of the P3 procedure described below may include various aspects of the P1 and P2 procedures described above. In a non-limiting example, one or more of the first UE and the second UE may utilize the synchronization techniques, signal measurement techniques, etc., described above with regard to the P1 and P2 procedures.

In a first example of the P3 procedures, a first UE702may transmit a message configured to initiate a receive-beam refinement operation for beam management of a sidelink between the first UE702and the second UE704. In some examples, the first UE702transmits the message to the second UE704via a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) established over the sidelink. Accordingly, the second UE704may receive and decode the message for the receive-beam refinement operation. The message may be transmitted/received via one or more slots in the PSCCH. In some examples, the message is configured to indicate a time delay between a time the message is received by the second UE704and the resources used for transmission of a first of signal of the receive-beam refinement operation.

In some configurations, the first UE702begins the receive-beam refinement operation by transmitting a first signal in a first plurality of transmissions to the second UE704. That is, the first UE702is configured to transmit the same signal multiple times to the second UE704over the same beam. In some examples, each of the first plurality of transmissions is transmitted via a beam previously used by the first UE702for transmitting data on the sidelink (e.g., a beam used in any of the P1 and/or P2 procedures). In some examples, the first signal is configured to provide the second UE with a basis for refining a first receive-beam previously used by the second UE704for receiving data through the sidelink (e.g., a receive-beam used in any of the P1 and/or P2 procedures). For example, refining a beam may include finding a relatively narrower beam compared to the initial beam (e.g., first receive beam) configured during communication establishment. In some cases, refining the receive-beam may include using a plurality of narrower beams that are components (e.g., within the same range of angular direction, within the same spatial range, etc.) of the relatively wider initial beam (e.g., the first receive-beam). In some cases, the narrower beams provide higher levels of gain than a relatively broader beam, and have more defined direction than the initial beam resulting in reduced noise interference. In some examples, the first signal is transmitted in the first plurality of transmissions within the same slot comprising the message configured to initiate the receive-beam refinement operation.

In some configurations, the first UE702receives, from the second UE, a second signal transmitted in a second plurality of transmissions in response to the message and after transmitting the first signal. In some examples, each of the second plurality of transmissions is transmitted via a transmit-beam previously used by the second UE704for transmitting data on the sidelink (e.g., a beam used in any of the P1 and/or P2 procedures). In some examples, the second signal is configured to provide the first UE702with a basis for refining a first receive-beam previously used by the first UE702for receiving data through the sidelink (e.g., a beam used in any of the P1 and/or P2 procedures). The first UE702may determine a second receive-beam from a plurality of receive-beams based on a quality of the second signal measured at each of the plurality of receive-beams. That is, the first UE702may use multiple receive-beams based on the previously used beam to determine which receive-beam provides the best signal quality. In some examples, the best measurement may correspond to a measurement that, among the plurality of receive beams, indicates the highest received power, the highest signal quality, etc. A measurement may be, for example, a received power or received quality of the first signal such as a channel quality indicator (CQI) measurement, a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, a signal to noise ratio (SNR) measurement, or any other suitable signal strength or quality indicating measurement.

In some examples, the message configured to initiate the receive-beam refining operation is further configured to indicate a time delay between resources used for transmitting the first signal in the first plurality of transmissions and resources used for transmitting the second signal in the second plurality of transmissions.

In the first example described above, the first UE702may be the first and only UE to perform a receive-beam refinement operation (e.g., the first UE702transmits a first signal multiple times over the same beam for the second UE704to use for receive-beam refinement). Alternatively, the first UE602may be the first to perform the receive-beam refinement operation, followed by another receive-beam refinement operation performed by the second UE604(e.g., the second UE704transmits a first signal multiple times over the same beam for the first UE702to use for receive-beam refinement).

However, in a second example, the second UE704may be the first and only UE to perform a receive-beam refinement operation (e.g., the second UE704transmits a first signal multiple times over the same beam for the first UE702to use for receive-beam refinement), or alternatively, the second UE704may be the first to perform the receive-beam refinement operation, followed by another receive-beam refinement operation by the first UE702. In other words, the order of UEs described above may vary.

For example, the first UE702may receive, from the second UE704, a first signal transmitted in a first plurality of transmissions in response to the message. In some examples, each of the first plurality of transmissions is transmitted via a beam previously used by the second UE704for transmitting data on the sidelink (e.g., a beam used in any of the P1 and/or P2 procedures). In some examples, the first signal is configured to provide the first UE702with a basis for refining a first receive-beam previously used by the first UE for receiving data through the sidelink (e.g., a beam used in any of the P1 and/or P2 procedures). The first UE702may determine a second receive-beam from a first plurality of receive-beams based on a quality of the first signal measured at each of the first plurality of receive-beams. The first UE702may then switch to the second receive-beam for communication with the second UE704over the sidelink.

In some configurations, the first UE702may transmit a second signal in a second plurality of transmissions after receiving the first plurality of transmissions from the second UE704. In some examples, each of the second plurality of transmissions is transmitted via a beam previously used by the first UE702for transmitting data on the sidelink (e.g., a beam used in any of the P1 and/or P2 procedures). In some configurations, the second signal is configured to provide the second UE704with a basis for refining a second receive-beam previously used by the second UE for receiving data through the sidelink (e.g., a beam used in any of the P1 and/or P2 procedures).

In some configurations, any of the first signals and/or second signals may include one or more of a SRS, a DMRS, or a CSI-RS, or a BM-RS. In some examples, each signal is transmitted in the same slot comprising the message configured to initiate a receive-beam refinement operation for beam management of a sidelink between the first UE and a second UE.

FIG.8is a flow diagram illustrating example operations800for a P1 procedure, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations800may be performed by a UE. The UE may include any of the UEs illustrated and described inFIGS.1-3and5-7. Operations800may be implemented as software components that are executed and run on one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor340/380ofFIG.3). Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the UE in operations800may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antennas334/352ofFIG.3). In certain aspects, the transmission and/or reception of signals by the UE may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor340/380) obtaining and/or outputting signals.

The operations800may begin, at802, by selecting a first beam for transmission of a first signal used for beam management for a sidelink between the first UE and a second UE. At804, the operations800proceed by transmitting the first signal in a first plurality of transmissions, wherein each of the first plurality of transmissions is transmitted via the first beam according to a first periodic interval, and wherein the first signal is configured to provide the second UE with a basis for selecting a second beam for receiving data on the sidelink. At806, the operations800proceed by receiving, from the second UE, a second signal transmitted in a second plurality of transmissions according to a second periodic interval, wherein the second signal is configured to provide the first UE with a basis for selecting a third beam for receiving data on the sidelink. At808, the operations800proceed by selecting the third beam for reception of data on the sidelink, wherein the selection is based on the received second signal.

FIG.9is a flow diagram illustrating example operations900for a P2 procedure, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations900may be performed by a UE. The UE may include any of the UEs illustrated and described inFIGS.1-3and5-7. Operations900may be implemented as software components that are executed and run on one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor340/380ofFIG.3). Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the UE in operations900may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antennas334/352ofFIG.3). In certain aspects, the transmission and/or reception of signals by the UE may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor340/380) obtaining and/or outputting signals.

The operations900may begin, at902, by transmitting a plurality of signals, wherein each signal of the plurality of signals is transmitted to a first UE via one of a plurality of beams based on an initial beam previously used by a second UE, and wherein the plurality of signals are configured to provide the first UE with a basis for measuring signal quality at each of the plurality of beams. At904, the operations900proceed by receiving, from the first UE, a report indicating a preferred beam of the plurality of beams. At906, the operations900proceed by switching from the initial beam previously used by the second UE to the preferred beam.

FIG.10is a flow diagram illustrating example operations1000for a P3 procedure, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations1000may be performed by a UE. The UE may include any of the UEs illustrated and described inFIGS.1-3and5-7. Operations1000may be implemented as software components that are executed and run on one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor340/380ofFIG.3). Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the UE in operations1000may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antennas334/352ofFIG.3). In certain aspects, the transmission and/or reception of signals by the UE may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor340/380) obtaining and/or outputting signals.

The operations1000may begin, at1002, by receiving, from a first UE, a signal transmitted in a plurality of transmissions, wherein each of the plurality of transmissions is transmitted via a beam previously used by the first UE for transmitting data on the sidelink, and wherein the signal is configured to provide a second UE with a basis for refining a first receive-beam previously used by the second UE for receiving data through the sidelink. At1004, the operations1000proceed by determining a second receive-beam from a plurality of receive-beams based on a quality of the signal measured at each of the plurality of receive-beams.

FIG.11illustrates a communications device1100that may include various components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-function components) configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations illustrated inFIGS.8-10. The communications device1100includes a processing system1102coupled to a transceiver1108. The transceiver1108is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communications device1100via an antenna1110, such as the various signals as described herein. The processing system1102may be configured to perform processing functions for the communications device1100, including processing signals received and/or to be transmitted by the communications device1100.

The processing system1102includes a processor1104coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory1112via a bus1106. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium/memory1112is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that when executed by the processor1104, cause the processor1104to perform the operations illustrated inFIGS.8-10, or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein for beam management of sidelink communication. In certain aspects, computer-readable medium/memory1112stores code for performing the P1, P2, and P3 procedures (1132,1136,1138) described above. In certain aspects, the processor1104has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium/memory1112. The processor1104includes circuitry for performing the P1, P2, and P3 procedures (1112,1116,1118) described above.

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions for achieving the methods. The method steps and/or actions may be interchanged with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiment 1: A method of wireless communication by a first user equipment (UE), comprising selecting a first beam for transmission of a first signal used for beam management for a sidelink between the first UE and a second UE; transmitting the first signal in a first plurality of transmissions, wherein each of the first plurality of transmissions is transmitted via the first beam according to a first periodic interval, and wherein the first signal is configured to provide the second UE with a basis for selecting a second beam for receiving data on the sidelink; receiving, from the second UE, a second signal transmitted in a second plurality of transmissions according to a second periodic interval, wherein the second signal is configured to provide the first UE with a basis for selecting a third beam for receiving data on the sidelink; and selecting the third beam for reception of data on the sidelink, wherein the selection is based on the received second signal.

Embodiment 2: The method of Embodiment 1, wherein selecting the first beam further comprises one or more of selecting the first beam randomly from a plurality of beams; selecting the first beam from one or more beams corresponding to a sidelink resource comprised by the first UE; or selecting the first beam from a plurality of beams based on a sounding reference signal received from the second UE.

Embodiment 3: The method Embodiment 1, wherein communication on the sidelink is performed according to a time division duplex (TDD) communication protocol, and wherein each of the plurality of transmissions of the second signal is transmitted via the second beam.

Embodiment 4: The method of Embodiment 1, wherein the first signal and the second signal include one or more sidelink synchronization signal blocks (S-SSBs).

Embodiment 5: The method of Embodiment 1, wherein the first signal and the second signal comprise one or more of a sounding reference signal (SRS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

Embodiment 6: The method of Embodiment 1, wherein the first signal and the second signal comprise a beam management reference signal (BM-RS) configured for sidelink beam management between the first UE and the second UE.

Embodiment 7: The method of Embodiment 1, further comprising determining a first starting time for transmitting the first signal, and a second starting time for receiving the second signal, wherein the first starting time and the second starting time are based on one or any combination of: a configuration from network via radio resource control (RRC) message, medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), downlink control information (DCI), a sidelink resource of the first UE, or a periodic global positioning system (GPS) signal.

Embodiment 8: A method of wireless communication by a first user equipment (UE), comprising transmitting a message configured to initiate a beam sweeping operation for beam management of a sidelink between the first UE and a second UE.

Embodiment 9: The method of Embodiment 8, wherein the beam sweeping operation comprises: transmitting a first plurality of signals, wherein each signal of the first plurality of signals is transmitted to the second UE via one of a first plurality of beams based on an initial beam previously used by the first UE, and wherein the first plurality of signals are configured to provide the second UE with a basis for measuring signal quality at each of the first plurality of beams; receiving, from the second UE, a first report indicating a first preferred beam of the first plurality of beams; and switching from the initial beam previously used by the first UE to the first preferred beam.

Embodiment 10: The method of Embodiment 9, wherein the beam sweeping operation further comprises: receiving a second plurality of signals in response to the message and after receiving the first report, wherein each signal of the second plurality of signals is received via one of a second plurality of beams based on an initial beam previously used by the second UE, and wherein the second plurality of signals are configured to provide the first UE with a basis for measuring signal quality at each of the second plurality of beams; determining a second preferred beam from the second plurality of beams, wherein the determination is based on signal quality measured at one or more of the second plurality of beams; and transmitting a second report indicating the second preferred beam to the second UE.

Embodiment 11: The method of Embodiment 8, wherein the beam sweeping operation comprises: receiving a first plurality of signals in response to the message, wherein each signal of the first plurality of signals is received via one of a first plurality of beams based on an initial beam previously used by the second UE, and wherein the first plurality of signals are configured to provide the first UE with a basis for measuring signal quality at each of the first plurality of beams; determining a first preferred beam from the first plurality of beams, wherein the determination is based on signal quality measured at one or more of the first plurality of beams; and transmitting a first report indicating the first preferred beam to the second UE.

Embodiment 12: The method of Embodiment 11, wherein the beam sweeping operation further comprises: transmitting a second plurality of signals after transmitting the first report, wherein each signal of the second plurality of signals is transmitted to the second UE via one of a second plurality of beams based on an initial beam previously used by the first UE, and wherein the second plurality of signals are configured to provide the second UE with a basis for measuring signal quality at each of the second plurality of beams; receiving, from the second UE, a second report indicating a second preferred beam of the second plurality of beams; and switching from the initial beam previously used by the first UE to the second preferred beam.

Embodiment 13: The method of an of Embodiments 9-12, wherein one or more of the first plurality of signals or the second plurality of signals is transmitted in the same slot comprising the message configured to initiate a beam sweeping operation for beam management of a sidelink between the first UE and a second UE.

Embodiment 14: The method of any of Embodiments 9-12, further comprising transmitting one or more of the first report or the second report using: one or more physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) resources; or one or more scheduled physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resources identified in the message.

Embodiment 15: The method of any of Embodiments 9-12, wherein one or more of the first report or the second report is received via: one or more scheduled physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resources identified in the message and/or based on a sidelink resource comprised by the first UE; or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

Embodiment 16: The method of any of Embodiments 8-12, wherein the message configured to initiate the beam sweeping operation is further configured to indicate a time delay between resources used for transmission of the first plurality of signals and resources used for the first report.

Embodiment 17: The method of any of Embodiments 8-12, wherein the message configured to initiate the beam sweeping operation is further configured to indicate a time delay between the message and the resources used for transmission of one or more of the first plurality of signals or the second plurality of signals.

Embodiment 18: The method of any of Embodiments 8-12, wherein one or more of the first plurality of signals or the second plurality of signals are transmitted in the same slot comprising the message configured to initiate a beam sweeping operation for beam management of a sidelink between the first UE and a second UE.

Embodiment 19: The method of Embodiment 8, further comprising transmitting the message via a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

Embodiment 20: The method of Embodiment 8, wherein the message is transmitted via one or more slots in a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

Embodiment 21: A method of wireless communication by a first user equipment (UE), comprising transmitting a message configured to initiate a receive-beam refining operation for beam management of a sidelink between the first UE and a second UE.

Embodiment 22: The method of Embodiment 21, wherein the receive-beam refining operation comprises transmitting a first signal in a first plurality of transmissions, wherein each of the first plurality of transmissions is transmitted via a beam previously used by the first UE for transmitting data on the sidelink, and wherein the first signal is configured to provide the second UE with a basis for refining a first receive-beam previously used by the second UE for receiving data through the sidelink.

Embodiment 23: The method of Embodiment 22, wherein the receive-beam refining operation further comprises: receiving, from the second UE, a second signal transmitted in a second plurality of transmissions in response to the message and after transmitting the first signal, wherein each of the second plurality of transmissions is transmitted via a beam previously used by the second UE for transmitting data on the sidelink, and wherein the second signal is configured to provide the first UE with a basis for refining a first receive-beam previously used by the first UE for receiving data through the sidelink; and determining a second receive-beam from a plurality of receive-beams based on a quality of the second signal measured at each of the plurality of receive-beams.

Embodiment 24: The method of Embodiment 21, wherein the receive-beam refining operation comprises: receiving, from the second UE, a first signal transmitted in a first plurality of transmissions in response to the message, wherein each of the first plurality of transmissions is transmitted via a beam previously used by the second UE for transmitting data on the sidelink, and wherein the first signal is configured to provide the first UE with a basis for refining a first receive-beam previously used by the first UE for receiving data through the sidelink; and determining a second receive-beam from a first plurality of receive-beams based on a quality of the first signal measured at each of the first plurality of receive-beams.

Embodiment 25: The method of Embodiment 24, wherein the beam refining operation further comprises transmitting a second signal in a second plurality of transmissions after receiving the first plurality of transmissions, wherein each of the second plurality of transmissions is transmitted via a beam previously used by the first UE for transmitting data on the sidelink, and wherein the second signal is configured to provide the second UE with a basis for refining a second receive-beam previously used by the second UE for receiving data through the sidelink.

Embodiment 26: The method of any of Embodiments 22-25, wherein one or more of the first signal or the second signal comprises one or more of a sounding reference signal (SRS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or a beam management reference signal (BM-RS).

Embodiment 27: The method of any of Embodiments 22-25, wherein one or more of the first signal or the second signal are transmitted in the same slot comprising the message configured to initiate the beam refining operation for beam management of the sidelink between the first UE and the second UE.

Embodiment 28: The method of any of Embodiments 22-25, via one or more slots in a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

Embodiment 29: The method of any of Embodiments 22-25, further comprising transmitting the message via a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

Embodiment 30: The method of any of Embodiments 22-25, wherein the message configured to initiate the receive-beam refining operation is further configured to indicate a time delay between the message and the resources used for transmission of one or more of the first signal or the second signal.

Embodiment 31: The method of any of Embodiments 22-25, wherein one or more of the first signal or the second signal is transmitted in the same slot comprising the message configured to initiate the beam refining operation for beam management of a sidelink between the first UE and a second UE.

Embodiment 32: The method of any of Embodiments 22-25, wherein the message configured to initiate the receive-beam refining operation is further configured to indicate a time delay between resources used for transmitting one or more of the first signal or the second signal, and resources used for transmitting the first signal and second signal in the second plurality of transmissions.

Embodiment 33: The method of Embodiment 23, wherein the message configured to initiate the receive-beam refining operation is further configured to indicate a time delay between resources used for transmitting the first signal, and resources used for transmitting the second signal.

Embodiment 34: The method of Embodiment 25, wherein the message configured to initiate the receive-beam refining operation is further configured to indicate a time delay between resources used for transmitting the first signal, and resources used for transmitting the second signal.

As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination with multiples of the same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b, b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, “determining” may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like. Also, “determining” may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also, “determining” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing and the like.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”

The various operations of methods described above may be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. The means may include various hardware and/or software component(s) and/or module(s), including, but not limited to a circuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or processor. Generally, where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations may have corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components with similar numbering.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration may comprise a processing system in a wireless node. The processing system may be implemented with a bus architecture. The bus may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system and the overall design constraints. The bus may link together various circuits including a processor, machine-readable media, and a bus interface. The bus interface may be used to connect a network adapter, among other things, to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement the signal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of a user terminal120(seeFIG.1), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further. The processor may be implemented with one or more general-purpose and/or special-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitry that can execute software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality for the processing system depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer readable medium. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The processor may be responsible for managing the bus and general processing, including the execution of software modules stored on the machine-readable storage media. A computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to a processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. By way of example, the machine-readable media may include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data, and/or a computer readable storage medium with instructions stored thereon separate from the wireless node, all of which may be accessed by the processor through the bus interface. Alternatively, or in addition, the machine-readable media, or any portion thereof, may be integrated into the processor, such as the case may be with cache and/or general register files. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include, by way of example, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (Read Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage medium, or any combination thereof. The machine-readable media may be embodied in a computer-program product.

A software module may comprise a single instruction, or many instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media. The computer-readable media may comprise a number of software modules. The software modules include instructions that, when executed by an apparatus such as a processor, cause the processing system to perform various functions. The software modules may include a transmission module and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices. By way of example, a software module may be loaded into RAM from a hard drive when a triggering event occurs. During execution of the software module, the processor may load some of the instructions into cache to increase access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a general register file for execution by the processor. When referring to the functionality of a software module below, it will be understood that such functionality is implemented by the processor when executing instructions from that software module.

Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared (IR), radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray® disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Thus, in some aspects computer-readable media may comprise non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media). In addition, for other aspects computer-readable media may comprise transitory computer-readable media (e.g., a signal). Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

Thus, certain aspects may comprise a computer program product for performing the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may comprise a computer-readable medium having instructions stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein. For example, instructions for performing the operations described herein and illustrated inFIGS.5-10.

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 terminal and/or base station as applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to a server to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the methods described herein. 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 terminal and/or base station can obtain the various methods upon coupling or providing the storage means to the device. Moreover, any other suitable technique for providing the methods and techniques described herein to a device can be utilized.

It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the precise configuration and components illustrated above. Various modifications, changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the methods and apparatus described above without departing from the scope of the claims.