PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-12143181-B2
Application Number: US-202318101959-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Neighboring beam assisted beamforming and beamtracking

Abstract:
A base station may transmit beams to user equipment. The user equipment may receive the beams and transmit a signal to a base station. The base station may determine signal characteristics associated with the beams based on the signal and compare the signal characteristics with predefined signal characteristics that correspond to potential locations of the user equipment. Based on this comparison, the base station may determine a position of the user equipment and transmit a targeted beam based on the position of the user equipment. The base station may also track the position of the user equipment and provide an updated targeted beam based on an updated position of the user equipment. Accordingly, the base station may efficiently form and update the targeted beam based on the predefined signal characteristics, thereby reducing an amount of time required to establish and maintain communication with the user equipment.

Claims:
The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a plurality of antennas; 
 a transmitter coupled to the plurality of antennas, the transmitter configured to transmit a plurality of beams from the plurality of antennas; 
 a receiver coupled to the plurality of antennas, the receiver configured to receive an indication of user equipment; and 
 processing circuitry coupled to the transmitter and the receiver, the processing circuitry configured to
 receive a signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams based on the indication of the user equipment, 
 receive a position of the user equipment based on the signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams, and 
 transmit, using the transmitter, a targeted beam based on the position of the user equipment. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to transmit, using the transmitter, or receive, using the receiver, data to or from the user equipment using the targeted beam. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to receive the position of the user equipment based on the signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams and a predefined table. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device of  claim 3 , wherein the predefined table correlates the signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams and a plurality of potential positions of the user equipment. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device of  claim 4 , wherein the position of the user equipment comprises a range of potential positions of the user equipment from the plurality of potential positions of the user equipment. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device of  claim 5 , wherein the targeted beam spans the range of potential positions of the user equipment. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device of  claim 5 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to receive the position of the user equipment based on the signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams and the predefined table by
 determining a normalized signal characteristic of each beam based on the signal characteristic of each beam, 
 determining a distance between the normalized signal characteristic of each beam and a predefined characteristic associated with each potential position of the user equipment of the plurality of potential positions of the user equipment, and 
 determining the range of potential positions of the user equipment based on the distance between the normalized signal characteristic of each beam and the predefined characteristic associated with each potential position of the user equipment being below a threshold value. 
 
     
     
       8. An electronic device, comprising:
 a receiver configured to receive a plurality of beams from an additional electronic device and a plurality of predefined signal characteristics of each beam of the plurality of beams; 
 a transmitter configured to transmit a signal; and 
 processing circuitry coupled to the transmitter and the receiver, the processing circuitry configured to
 receive a signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams, 
 receive a position of the electronic device relative to the additional electronic device based on the signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams and the plurality of predefined signal characteristics of each beam of the plurality of beams, and 
 transmit, using the transmitter, an indication of the position of the electronic device relative to the additional electronic device. 
 
 
     
     
       9. The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the receiver is configured to receive a targeted beam from the additional electronic device, the targeted beam being determined based on the position of the electronic device, and the processing circuitry is configured to transmit, using the transmitter, or receive, using the receiver, one or more signals to or from the additional electronic device using the targeted beam. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device of  claim 8 , comprising a memory storing a data structure associating the plurality of predefined signal characteristics of each beam of the plurality of beams and a plurality of potential positions of the electronic device. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams comprises a signal strength of each beam of the plurality of beams. 
     
     
       12. The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the additional electronic device comprises a base station or access point. 
     
     
       13. The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to emit, using the receiver, a targeted reception beam based on the position of the electronic device relative to the additional electronic device. 
     
     
       14. The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of beams comprises a plurality of neighboring beams. 
     
     
       15. A method, comprising:
 transmitting, using a transmitter of an electronic device, a plurality of beams from a plurality of antennas of the electronic device; 
 receiving, using a receiver of the electronic device, an indication of user equipment; 
 receiving, at a processor of the electronic device, a signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams based on the indication of the user equipment; 
 receiving, at the processor, a position of the user equipment based on the signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams and a predefined table; and 
 transmitting, using the transmitter, a targeted beam based on the position of the user equipment. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , comprising transmitting, using the transmitter, or receiving, using the receiver, one or more signals to or from the user equipment using the targeted beam. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 15 , comprising:
 receiving, using the receiver, an additional indication of the user equipment; 
 receiving, at the processor, an additional signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams based on the additional indication of the user equipment; and 
 determining, at the processor, that the additional signal characteristic of each beam is different than the signal characteristic of each beam. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , wherein determining, at the processor, that the additional signal characteristic of each beam is different than the signal characteristic of each beam comprises determining, at the processor, that the additional signal characteristic of each beam is different by a threshold difference from the signal characteristic. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 17 , comprising:
 determining an updated position of the user equipment based on the additional signal characteristic of each beam being different than the signal characteristic of each beam; and 
 transmitting, using the transmitter, an updated targeted beam based on the updated position of the user equipment. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 17 , comprising receiving, using the receiver, a plurality of additional indications of the user equipment periodically, the plurality of additional indications comprising the additional indication.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/408,009, filed Sep. 19, 2022, entitled “NEIGHBORING BEAM ASSISTED BEAMFORMING AND BEAMTRACKING,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety for all purposes. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication, and more specifically to forming a beam for wireless communication with user equipment. 
     In wireless communication, a base station may include antennas that emit beams to enable communication with user equipment. The user equipment may receive the beams and transmit a signal to the base station. The base station may include a large array of antennas that enable communication at higher frequencies relative to smaller arrays of antennas. However, as the number of antennas of the base station increases, the number of beams emitted by the antennas increases, which may increase the complexity of communication between the base station and the user equipment. Additionally, after establishing communication between the base station and the user equipment, the user equipment may move relative to the base station, which may further increase the complexity of communication between the base station and the user equipment. 
     SUMMARY 
     A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below. 
     In one embodiment, an electronic device may include a plurality of antennas, a transmitter coupled to the plurality of antennas, a receiver coupled to the plurality of antennas, and processing circuitry coupled to the transmitter and the receiver. The transmitter may be configured to transmit a plurality of beams from the plurality of antennas. The receiver may be configured to receive an indication of user equipment. The processing circuitry may be configured to receive a signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams based on the indication of the user equipment, receive a position of the user equipment based on the signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams, and transmit, using the transmitter, a targeted beam based on the position of the user equipment. 
     In another embodiment, an electronic device may include a receiver configured to receive a plurality of beams from an additional electronic device and a plurality of predefined signal characteristics of each beam of the plurality of beams, a transmitter configured to transmit a signal, and processing circuitry coupled to the transmitter and the receiver. The processing circuitry may be configured to receive a signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams, receive a position of the electronic device relative to the additional electronic device based on the signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams and the plurality of predefined signal characteristics of each beam of the plurality of beams, and transmit, using the transmitter, an indication of the position of the electronic device relative to the additional electronic device. 
     In yet another embodiment, a method may include transmitting, using a transmitter of an electronic device, a plurality of beams from a plurality of antennas of the electronic device, receiving, using the receiver of the electronic device, an indication of user equipment, receiving a signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams based on the indication of the user equipment, receiving a position of the user equipment based on the signal characteristic of each beam of the plurality of beams and a predefined table, and transmitting, using the transmitter, a targeted beam based on the position of the user equipment. 
     Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation to various aspects of the present disclosure. Further features may also be incorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements and additional features may exist individually or in any combination. For instance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more of the illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of the above-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in any combination. The brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of embodiments of the present disclosure without limitation to the claimed subject matter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings described below in which like numerals refer to like parts. 
         FIG.  1    is a block diagram of user equipment, according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is a functional diagram of the user equipment of  FIG.  1   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  3    is a schematic diagram of a transmitter of the user equipment of  FIG.  1   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  4    is a schematic diagram of a receiver of the user equipment of  FIG.  1   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  5    is a schematic diagram of a communication system including the user equipment of  FIG.  1    communicatively coupled to a wireless communication network supported by base stations, according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  6    is a schematic diagram of three beams that may be emitted from a base station of the wireless communication network of  FIG.  5   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  7    is a schematic diagram of five beams that may be emitted from a base station of the wireless communication network of  FIG.  5   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  8    is a schematic diagram of the three beams of  FIG.  6    and a directional indication of a signal from the user equipment of  FIG.  1   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  9    is a schematic diagram of the three beams and the directional indication of  FIG.  8    and a signal range estimate of the signal from the user equipment of  FIG.  1   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  10    is a table of signal characteristics of the five beams of  FIG.  7   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  11    is a table of predefined signal characteristics of the five beams of  FIG.  7   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  12    is a diagram of the signal range estimate of  FIG.  9    relative to a ratio of distances between signal characteristics of the five beams of  FIG.  7    and the table of  FIG.  11   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  13    is a schematic diagram of a targeted beam that may be transmitted to the user equipment of  FIG.  1    based on the signal range estimate of  FIG.  9   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  14    is a flowchart of a method for beam acquisition, according to embodiments of the present disclosure 
         FIG.  15    is a schematic diagram of a targeted beam that may be transmitted to the user equipment of  FIG.  1    and an indication of a moving signal from the user equipment of  FIG.  1   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG.  16    is a flowchart of a method for beam tracking, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS 
     One or more specific embodiments will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers&#39; specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure. 
     When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present disclosure, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Additionally, it should be understood that references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Use of the terms “approximately,” “near,” “about,” “close to,” and/or “substantially” should be understood to mean including close to a target (e.g., design, value, amount), such as within a margin of any suitable or contemplatable error (e.g., within 0.1% of a target, within 1% of a target, within 5% of a target, within 10% of a target, within 25% of a target, and so on). Moreover, it should be understood that any exact values, numbers, measurements, and so on, provided herein, are contemplated to include approximations (e.g., within a margin of suitable or contemplatable error) of the exact values, numbers, measurements, and so on. Additionally, the term “set” may include one or more. That is, a set may include a unitary set of one member, but the set may also include a set of multiple members. 
     This disclosure is directed to forming a beam for wireless communication with user equipment and tracking the beam based on movement of the user equipment. A base station (e.g., an electronic device) may include antennas that emit beams to enable communication with the user equipment. The user equipment may receive the beams and transmit a signal to the base station. The base station may include a large array of antennas that enable communication with the user equipment at higher frequencies relative to smaller arrays of antennas. However, as the number of antennas of the base station increases, the number of beams emitted by the antennas increases, which may increase the time required to form a refined beam directed toward the user equipment. 
     In some instances, beam-forming may be performed in phases. In a first phase, the base station may perform beam sweeping and transmit Synchronization Signal (SS) Blocks (SSBs) and/or Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) Blocks in beams from the antennas. In a second phase, the base station may refine the beams by transmitting reference signals (e.g., channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS)) with the beams. In a third phase, the base station transmits the refined beam over time, and the user equipment uses the refined beam in reception beam sweeping to find the best reception beam. However, these three phases may take an excessive amount of time and communication resources (e.g., SSBs, PBCH Blocks, CSI-RSs, and so on). 
     Additionally, after establishing communication between the base station and the user equipment, the user equipment may move relative to the base station, which may further increase the complexity of communication between the base station and the user equipment. For example, additional reference signal resources (e.g., CSI-RS) may be required during the second phase and the third phase for both transmission and reception beam-forming. 
     Embodiments herein provide various apparatuses and techniques to reduce the time required for a targeted (e.g., refined) beam acquisition and to facilitate tracking the targeted beam based on movement of the user equipment. To do so, the embodiments disclosed herein include a base station having antennas, a transmitter configured to transmit neighboring beams from the antennas, and a receiver configured to receive an indication of user equipment. The user equipment may receive the neighboring beams and transmit a signal to the base station (e.g., an indication of the user equipment). The base station may receive (e.g., determine) a signal characteristic associated with each beam of the neighboring beams based on the signal transmitted from the user equipment. For example, the signal characteristic may include a signal strength associated with each beam. The base station may compare the signal characteristic of each beam with predefined signal characteristics for each beam that correspond to potential locations of the user equipment. Based on this comparison, the base station may receive a position of the user equipment and transmit a targeted beam based on the position of the user equipment. The base station may efficiently form the targeted beam based on the predefined signal characteristics, thereby replacing the first phase, the second phase, and the third phase for beam-forming described above. Accordingly, the techniques described herein may reduce an amount of time and communication resources (e.g., SSBs, PBCH Blocks, CSI-RSs, and so on) used to establish communication with the user equipment relative to traditional embodiments. 
     Additionally, the base station may receive an additional indication of the user equipment, such as an additional or updated signal from the user equipment. The base station may receive an additional signal characteristic of each beam and determine whether the additional signal characteristic for each beam is different than the previous signal characteristic for each beam. The base station may receive an updated position of the user equipment based on the additional signal characteristic being different than the previous signal characteristic. For example, the signal strength associated with each beam may change based on the user equipment changing position and a signal received from the user equipment changing direction. The base station may transmit an updated targeted beam based on the updated position of the user equipment, thereby replacing the second phase and the third phase procedure that uses additional reference signal resources described above. Accordingly, the base station may efficiently track the position of the user equipment and update the targeted beam, thereby more efficiently maintaining communication with the user equipment in less time and with less resource usage relative to traditional embodiments. 
       FIG.  1    is a block diagram of user equipment  10 , according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The user equipment  10  may include, among other things, one or more processors  12  (collectively referred to herein as a single processor for convenience, which may be implemented in any suitable form of processing circuitry), memory  14 , nonvolatile storage  16 , a display  18 , input structures  22 , an input/output (I/O) interface  24 , a network interface  26 , and a power source  29 . The various functional blocks shown in  FIG.  1    may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements (including machine-executable instructions) or a combination of both hardware and software elements (which may be referred to as logic). The processor  12 , memory  14 , the nonvolatile storage  16 , the display  18 , the input structures  22 , the input/output (I/O) interface  24 , the network interface  26 , and/or the power source  29  may each be communicatively coupled directly or indirectly (e.g., through or via another component, a communication bus, a network) to one another to transmit and/or receive signals between one another. It should be noted that  FIG.  1    is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present in the user equipment  10 . 
     By way of example, the user equipment  10  may include any suitable electronic device, including a desktop or notebook computer (e.g., in the form of a MacBook®, MacBook® Pro, MacBook Air®, iMac®, Mac® mini, or Mac Pro® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), a portable electronic or handheld electronic device such as a wireless electronic device or smartphone (e.g., in the form of a model of an iPhone® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), a tablet (e.g., in the form of a model of an iPad® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), a wearable electronic device (e.g., in the form of an Apple Watch® by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), and other similar devices. It should be noted that the processor  12  and other related items in  FIG.  1    may be embodied wholly or in part as software, hardware, or both. Furthermore, the processor  12  and other related items in  FIG.  1    may be a single contained processing module or may be incorporated wholly or partially within any of the other elements within the user equipment  10 . The processor  12  may be implemented with any combination of general-purpose microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate array (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware components, dedicated hardware finite state machines, or any other suitable entities that may perform calculations or other manipulations of information. The processors  12  may include one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, or both, and perform the various functions described herein. 
     In the user equipment  10  of  FIG.  1   , the processor  12  may be operably coupled with a memory  14  and a nonvolatile storage  16  to perform various algorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by the processor  12  may be stored in any suitable article of manufacture that includes one or more tangible, computer-readable media. The tangible, computer-readable media may include the memory  14  and/or the nonvolatile storage  16 , individually or collectively, to store the instructions or routines. The memory  14  and the nonvolatile storage  16  may include any suitable articles of manufacture for storing data and executable instructions, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, rewritable flash memory, hard drives, and optical discs. In addition, programs (e.g., an operating system) encoded on such a computer program product may also include instructions that may be executed by the processor  12  to enable the user equipment  10  to provide various functionalities. 
     In certain embodiments, the display  18  may facilitate users to view images generated on the user equipment  10 . In some embodiments, the display  18  may include a touch screen, which may facilitate user interaction with a user interface of the user equipment  10 . Furthermore, it should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the display  18  may include one or more liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light-emitting diode (LED) displays, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays, or some combination of these and/or other display technologies. 
     The input structures  22  of the user equipment  10  may enable a user to interact with the user equipment  10  (e.g., pressing a button to increase or decrease a volume level). The I/O interface  24  may enable the user equipment  10  to interface with various other electronic devices, as may the network interface  26 . In some embodiments, the I/O interface  24  may include an I/O port for a hardwired connection for charging and/or content manipulation using a standard connector and protocol, such as the Lightning connector provided by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California, a universal serial bus (USB), or other similar connector and protocol. The network interface  26  may include, for example, one or more interfaces for a personal area network (PAN), such as an ultra-wideband (UWB) or a BLUETOOTH® network, a local area network (LAN) or wireless local area network (WLAN), such as a network employing one of the IEEE 802.11x family of protocols (e.g., WI-FI®), and/or a wide area network (WAN), such as any standards related to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including, for example, a 3 rd  generation (3G) cellular network, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), 4 th  generation (4G) cellular network, long term evolution (LTE®) cellular network, long term evolution license assisted access (LTE-LAA) cellular network, 5 th  generation (5G) cellular network, and/or New Radio (NR) cellular network, a 6 th  generation (6G) or greater than 6G cellular network, a satellite network, a non-terrestrial network, and so on. In particular, the network interface  26  may include, for example, one or more interfaces for using a cellular communication standard of the 5G specifications that include the millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency range (e.g., 24.25-300 gigahertz (GHz)) that defines and/or enables frequency ranges used for wireless communication. The network interface  26  of the user equipment  10  may allow communication over the aforementioned networks (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi, LTE-LAA, and so forth). 
     The network interface  26  may also include one or more interfaces for, for example, broadband fixed wireless access networks (e.g., WIMAX®), mobile broadband Wireless networks (mobile WIMAX®), asynchronous digital subscriber lines (e.g., ADSL, VDSL), digital video broadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-T®) network and its extension DVB Handheld (DVB-H®) network, ultra-wideband (UWB) network, alternating current (AC) power lines, and so forth. 
     As illustrated, the network interface  26  may include a transceiver  30 . In some embodiments, all or portions of the transceiver  30  may be disposed within the processor  12 . The transceiver  30  may support transmission and receipt of various wireless signals via one or more antennas, and thus may include a transmitter and a receiver. The power source  29  of the user equipment  10  may include any suitable source of power, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and/or an alternating current (AC) power converter. 
       FIG.  2    is a functional diagram of the user equipment  10  of  FIG.  1   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the processor  12 , the memory  14 , the transceiver  30 , a transmitter  52 , a receiver  54 , and/or antennas  55  (illustrated as  55 A- 55 N, collectively referred to as an antenna  55 ) may be communicatively coupled directly or indirectly (e.g., through or via another component, a communication bus, a network) to one another to transmit and/or receive signals between one another. 
     The user equipment  10  may include the transmitter  52  and/or the receiver  54  that respectively enable transmission and reception of signals between the user equipment  10  and an external device via, for example, a network (e.g., including base stations or access points) or a direct connection. As illustrated, the transmitter  52  and the receiver  54  may be combined into the transceiver  30 . The user equipment  10  may also have one or more antennas  55 A- 55 N electrically coupled to the transceiver  30 . The antennas  55 A- 55 N may be configured in an omnidirectional or directional configuration, in a single-beam, dual-beam, or multi-beam arrangement, and so on. Each antenna  55  may be associated with one or more beams and various configurations. In some embodiments, multiple antennas of the antennas  55 A- 55 N of an antenna group or module may be communicatively coupled to a respective transceiver  30  and each emit radio frequency signals that may constructively and/or destructively combine to form a beam. The user equipment  10  may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, multiple transceivers, and/or multiple antennas as suitable for various communication standards. In some embodiments, the transmitter  52  and the receiver  54  may transmit and receive information via other wired or wireline systems or means. 
     As illustrated, the various components of the user equipment  10  may be coupled together by a bus system  56 . The bus system  56  may include a data bus, for example, as well as a power bus, a control signal bus, and a status signal bus, in addition to the data bus. The components of the user equipment  10  may be coupled together or accept or provide inputs to each other using some other mechanism. 
       FIG.  3    is a schematic diagram of the transmitter  52  (e.g., transmit circuitry), according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the transmitter  52  may receive outgoing data  60  in the form of a digital signal to be transmitted via the one or more antennas  55 . A digital-to-analog converter (DAC)  62  of the transmitter  52  may convert the digital signal to an analog signal, and a modulator  64  may combine the converted analog signal with a carrier signal to generate a radio wave. A power amplifier (PA)  66  receives the modulated signal from the modulator  64 . The power amplifier  66  may amplify the modulated signal to a suitable level to drive transmission of the signal via the one or more antennas  55 . A filter  68  (e.g., filter circuitry and/or software) of the transmitter  52  may then remove undesirable noise from the amplified signal to generate transmitted signal  70  to be transmitted via the one or more antennas  55 . The filter  68  may include any suitable filter or filters to remove the undesirable noise from the amplified signal, such as a bandpass filter, a bandstop filter, a low pass filter, a high pass filter, and/or a decimation filter. 
     The power amplifier  66  and/or the filter  68  may be referred to as part of a radio frequency front end (RFFE), and more specifically, a transmit front end (TXFE) of the user equipment  10 . Additionally, the transmitter  52  may include any suitable additional components not shown, or may not include certain of the illustrated components, such that the transmitter  52  may transmit the outgoing data  60  via the one or more antennas  55 . For example, the transmitter  52  may include a mixer and/or a digital up converter. As another example, the transmitter  52  may not include the filter  68  if the power amplifier  66  outputs the amplified signal in or approximately in a desired frequency range (such that filtering of the amplified signal may be unnecessary). 
       FIG.  4    is a schematic diagram of the receiver  54  (e.g., receive circuitry), according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the receiver  54  may receive received signal  80  from the one or more antennas  55  in the form of an analog signal. A low noise amplifier (LNA)  82  may amplify the received analog signal to a suitable level for the receiver  54  to process. A filter  84  (e.g., filter circuitry and/or software) may remove undesired noise from the received signal, such as cross-channel interference. The filter  84  may also remove additional signals received by the one or more antennas  55  that are at frequencies other than the desired signal. The filter  84  may include any suitable filter or filters to remove the undesired noise or signals from the received signal, such as a bandpass filter, a bandstop filter, a low pass filter, a high pass filter, and/or a decimation filter. The low noise amplifier  82  and/or the filter  84  may be referred to as part of the RFFE, and more specifically, a receiver front end (RXFE) of the user equipment  10 . 
     A demodulator  86  may remove a radio frequency envelope and/or extract a demodulated signal from the filtered signal for processing. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC)  88  may receive the demodulated analog signal and convert the signal to a digital signal of incoming data  90  to be further processed by the user equipment  10 . Additionally, the receiver  54  may include any suitable additional components not shown, or may not include certain of the illustrated components, such that the receiver  54  may receive the received signal  80  via the one or more antennas  55 . For example, the receiver  54  may include a mixer and/or a digital down converter. 
       FIG.  5    is a schematic diagram of a communication system  100  including the user equipment  10  of  FIG.  1    communicatively coupled to a wireless communication network  102  supported by base stations  104 A,  104 B (collectively  104 ), according to embodiments of the present disclosure. In particular, the base stations  104  may include Next Generation NodeB (gNodeB or gNB) base stations and may provide 5G/NR coverage via the wireless communication network  102  to the user equipment  10 . The base stations  104  may include any suitable electronic device, such as a communication hub or node, that facilitates, supports, and/or implements the network  102 . In some embodiments, the base stations  104  may include Evolved NodeB (eNodeB) base stations and may provide 4G/LTE coverage via the wireless communication network  102  to the user equipment  10 . Each of the base stations  104  may include at least some of the components of the user equipment  10  shown in  FIGS.  1  and  2   , including one or more processors  12 , the memory  14 , the storage  16 , the transceiver  30 , the transmitter  52 , the receiver  54 , and the associated circuitry shown in  FIG.  4   . It should be understood that while the present disclosure may use 5G/NR as an example specification or standard, the embodiments disclosed herein may apply to other suitable specifications or standards (e.g., such as the 4G/LTE specification). Moreover, the network  102  may include any suitable number of base stations  104  (e.g., one or more base stations  104 , four or more base stations  104 , ten or more base stations  104 , and so on). 
     With the foregoing in mind,  FIG.  6    is a schematic diagram of three beams that may be emitted from the base station  104 A of the wireless communication network  102 . In certain embodiments, the techniques described herein may be performed by another base station, such as the base station  104 B, or by multiple base stations, such as the base stations  104 . The base station  104 A may emit beams  110  covering a particular range of angles relative to the base station  104 . As illustrated, the base station  104 A may emit three beams  110 A,  110 B,  110 C (collectively  110 ) covering an area of 120 degrees. The beams  110  may be referred to as neighboring beams, as they include consecutive overlapping beams covering a certain range of angles. In particular, each neighboring beam  110  overlaps with at least one other neighboring beam  110 , and each neighboring beam  110  covers a different range of angles than another neighboring beams  110 . For example, as illustrated, a main lobe (e.g., largest lobe) of each neighboring beam  110  overlaps with at least one other main lobe of one other neighboring beam  110 . In certain embodiments, the base station  104 A may emit more or fewer beams  110  and/or may cover a different range of angles relative to the base station  104 . For example, the base station  104 A may emit eight beams  110  covering an area of 360 degrees relative to the base station  104 A. The beams  110  may overlap to facilitate providing coverage via the wireless communication network  102  to the user equipment  10 . It should be understood that the roles of the base station  104  and the user equipment  10  are used as examples in the present disclosure, and it is contemplated that the roles may be switched. For example, the base station  104 A in  FIG.  6    may be the user equipment  10 , and the user equipment  10  in  FIG.  6    may be the base station  104 A. 
       FIG.  7    is a schematic diagram of five beams  110 A,  110 B,  110 C,  110 D,  110 E (collectively  110 ) that may be emitted the base station  104 A of the wireless communication network  102 . The number of the beams  110  (e.g., a density of the beams  110 ) emitted over a particular range of angles may depend on a geographic location of the base station  104 A, a potential number of the user equipment  10  within a particular radius of the base station  104 A, a potential mobility of the user equipment  10 , a potential location of the user equipment  10 , a potential direction of travel of the user equipment  10 , and/or other suitable factors. In certain embodiments, the base station  104 A may determine the number of the beams  110  emitted over a particular range of angles based on one or more of these factors. 
       FIG.  8    is a schematic diagram of the three beams  110  of  FIG.  6    and a directional indication of a signal  120  transmitted from the user equipment  10  and received at the base station  104 A, such as via a receiver of the base station  104 A. The user equipment  10  may receive one or more of the beams  110  transmitted from the base station  104 A and transmit the signal  120  to the base station  104 A. In certain embodiments, the signal  120  may include data regarding the beams  110 , such as a signal characteristic of each beam  110  (e.g., one or more signal characteristics associated with each beam  110 ), as received at the user equipment  10 . The signal characteristic may include a signal strength of each beam  110 , a signal power of each beam  110 , IQ sample(s) (or in-phase and/or quadrature samples) of each beam  110 , and/or other suitable signal characteristics. In radio frequency (RF) applications, a pair of periodic signals may be referred to be in “quadrature” when they differ in phase (e.g., by 90 degrees). The “in-phase” or reference signal is referred to as ‘I,’ and the signal that is shifted by 90 degrees (the signal in quadrature) is referred to as ‘Q.’ In certain embodiments, the signal  120  may indicate which beam  110  of the beams  110  has the maximum reference signal received power (RSRP) and/or may indicate the RSRP of each beam  110 . 
     In certain embodiments, the base station  104 A (e.g., one or more processors  12  of the base station  104 A, processing circuitry of the base station  104 A) may determine one or more of the signal characteristics of each beam  110  described above, such as based on an indication of the user equipment received at the base station  104 A (e.g., based on the signal  120  received at the base station  104 A). For example, the base station  104 A may determine a signal strength of each beam  110  based on the indication of the user equipment  10 . 
       FIG.  9    is a schematic diagram of the three beams  110 , the directional indication of the signal  120 , and a range estimate  140  of the signal  120 . The signal range estimate  140  may be a range of angles covering potential positions of the user equipment  10 . The base station  104 A may determine the signal range estimate  140  based on the signal characteristic of each beam  110 . To do so, the base station  104 A may normalize the signal characteristic of each beam  110 . In embodiments where the signal characteristic is a signal strength of each beam  110 , the base station  104 A may normalize the signal strength of each beam  110  relative to the other beams  110 . Accordingly, the base station  104 A may determine a normalized value of the signal characteristic (e.g., a normalized signal characteristic) of each beam  110 . The elevation angle in the schematic diagrams of  FIGS.  6 - 9    may be 0 degrees, though in additional or alternative embodiments, the elevation angle may be any suitable elevation. Additionally, the largest lobes shown in  FIGS.  6 - 9    may include main lobes of the beams. 
       FIG.  10    is a table  150  of normalized values of the signal characteristics of the beams  110  of  FIG.  7    assuming the base station  104 A receives the signal  120  shown in  FIGS.  8  and  9   . In the example where the signal characteristic is the signal strength, the table  150  may indicate that a beam  2  has the greatest signal strength, while a beam  4  has the lowest signal strength. 
     The base station  104 A may compare the normalized value of the signal characteristic of each beam  110  to a predefined data structure (e.g., a table, a diagram, a graph) that correlates the normalized value of the signal characteristic of each beam  110  and potential positions of the user equipment  10 . For example, each potential position of the user equipment  10  may correspond to angle (e.g., an angle of departure (AoD)) relative to the base station  104 A. An example of the predefined data structure is shown in a table  160  (e.g., a predefined table) of  FIG.  11   . The table  160  indicates normalized values for the predefined signal characteristics of each of the five beams  110  of  FIG.  7    at each angle between −30 degrees and −5 degrees. In certain embodiments, the base station  104 A may receive the table  160 , such as from the communication system  100  (e.g., from another electronic device of the communication system  100 ), or may generate the table  160  for each potential position of the user equipment  10 . For example, the base station  104 A may determine the normalized value of the signal characteristic of each of the five beams  110  for each angle (e.g., each potential position of the user equipment  10 ) to generate the table  160 . Although the table  160  includes only the normalized values for angles between −30 degrees and −5 degrees, the table  160  may include normalized values for greater or fewer ranges of angles, such as between −60 degrees and 60 degrees, as shown in  FIG.  7   , between −180 degrees and 180 degrees, or other suitable ranges of angles. 
     The base station  104 A may compare the normalized value of the signal characteristic of each beam  110  (e.g., the table  150  of  FIG.  10   ) to the table  160  to determine the angle of the signal  120  relative to the base station  104 A. For example, the normalized value of the signal characteristic of each beam  110  corresponds to (e.g., matches) the normalized values of the predefined signal characteristics at the angle of −15 degrees. Accordingly, the base station  104 A may determine that the signal  120  is arriving at (e.g., incoming to) the base station  104 A at the angle of −15 degrees. 
     In certain embodiments, noise associated with the signal  120  may affect the determination of the angle of the signal  120 . That is, the noise associated with the signal  120  may lower a confidence that the signal  120  is arriving at the base station  104 A at the particular angle (e.g., −15 degrees). To increase the confidence associated with the signal, the base station  104 A may determine the signal range estimate  140  shown in  FIG.  9   . To do so, the base station  104 A may determine distances (e.g., five-dimensional distances) between the normalized values of the signal characteristics of the beams  110  and the normalized values of the predefined signal characteristics. The base station  104 A may determine the signal range estimate  140  as a range of angles having distances between the normalized values of the signal characteristics of the beams  110  and the normalized values of the predefined signal characteristics below a threshold value. 
     For example,  FIG.  12    is a diagram of the signal range or angle of departure estimate  140  of  FIG.  9    relative to a ratio of distances between the normalized values of the signal characteristics of the beams  110  and the normalized values of the predefined signal characteristics of the table  160 . As illustrated, a threshold value  170  is set as one. In certain embodiments, the threshold value  170  may be set to another value (e.g., 0.5, 2, 2.5, 3), and/or the threshold value  170  may be set by an operator of the base station  104 A or of the communication system  100  generally. In certain embodiments, the threshold value  170  may be determined based on a confidence associated with the signal  120 , such as an amount of potential noise that may be associated with the signal  120 . In the diagram of  FIG.  12   , the range of angles between −18 degrees and −12 degrees have distances below the threshold value of one. Accordingly, the base station  104 A may determine that the signal range or angle of departure estimate  140  is between 18 degrees and −12 degrees. 
       FIG.  13    is a schematic diagram of a targeted beam  176  that may be transmitted by the base station  104 A to the user equipment  10 . The base station  104 A may determine (e.g., generate, form) the targeted beam  176  based on the signal range estimate  140  of  FIG.  9   . For example, the targeted beam  176  may span the range of angles (e.g., −18 degrees to −12 degrees) of the signal range estimate  140 . The targeted beam  176  may facilitate communication between the base station  104 A and the user equipment  10 , such as via signals transmitted to and/or received by the base station  104 A and/or the user equipment  10 . 
     In certain embodiments, the user equipment  10  may determine the signal range estimate  140  and provide the signal range estimate  140  to the base station  104 A. For example, the predefined signal characteristics of the beams  110  (e.g., the predefined data structure, the table  160 ) may be shared with the user equipment  10  via the beams  110  and/or through one or more different communication channels. The user equipment  10  may determine the signal characteristics of the beams  110  (e.g., signal strengths, signal powers, IQ samples) and determine the signal range estimate  140  based on a comparison of the predefined signal characteristics of the beams  110  to the signal characteristics of the beams  110  using the techniques described herein. In certain embodiments, the user equipment  10  may determine which beam  110  has the maximum RSRP and determine the signal range estimate  140  based on the maximum RSRP, the RSRP of the beams  110  neighboring the beam  110  having the maximum RSRP, and the predefined signal characteristics of the beams  110 . After determining the signal range estimate  140 , the user equipment  10  may provide an indication of the signal range estimate  140  to the base station  104 A, and the base station  104 A may determine the targeted beam  176  based on the signal range estimate  140 . 
     In certain embodiments, the base station  104 A may determine the signal range estimate  140  based on a partial structure of the predefined signal characteristics of the beams  110 . For example, the base station  104 A may provide consecutive beams  110  indexed monotonically. The user equipment  10  may receive the monotonically indexed beams  110  and provide (e.g., report, transmit) the maximum RSRP of a particular beam  110  and RSRPs of the beams  110  neighboring the particular beam  110  (e.g., RSRPs of three or more beams  110  neighboring the particular beam  110 ) to the base station  104 A. The base station  104 A may determine the signal range estimate  140  based on a partial structure of the predefined signal characteristics, such as the signal characteristics for the beams  110  corresponding to the maximum RSRP and the other RSRPs provided by the user equipment  10 . 
     For reception beam acquisition (e.g., reception at the base station  104 A and/or the user equipment  10 ), the neighboring beams  110  may be configured in different time resources, frequency resources, and/or RF chains. In particular, an area of arrival (AoA) may be determined using these factors and/or the techniques described herein. For example, transmission beams may be emitted from a transmission device (e.g., the base station  104 A or the user equipment  10 ), and a reception device (e.g., the base station  104 A or the user equipment  10 ) may determine a signal characteristic of each of the transmission beams, determine a position of the transmission device based on the signal characteristics, and emit a targeted reception beam based on the position of the transmission device. 
       FIG.  14    is a flowchart of a method  180  for beam acquisition, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that may control components of the base station  104  and/or the user equipment  10 , such as the processor  12 , may perform the method  180 . In some embodiments, the method  180  may be implemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory  14  or storage  16 , using the processor  12 . For example, the method  180  may be performed at least in part by one or more software components, such as an operating system of the base station  104  and/or the user equipment  10 , one or more software applications of the base station  104  and/or the user equipment  10 , and the like. While the method  180  is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be skipped or not performed altogether. 
     In process block  181 , the base station  104  transmits multiple beams  110  at different angles, as shown in, for example,  FIG.  6   . In process block  182 , the user equipment  10  receives the multiple beams  110 . In process block  183 , the user equipment  10  then determines a signal characteristic of each beam. In process block  184 , the user equipment  10  transmits indications (e.g., in the form of the signal  120 ) of the determined signal characteristics to the base station  104 . In process block  185 , the base station  104  receives the indications, and, in process block  186 , the base station  104  determines a position of the user equipment  10  based on the signal characteristics. In process block  187 , the base station  104  transmits a targeted beam  176  to the determined position. In process block  188 , the user equipment  10  receives the targeted beam  176 , and in process block  189 , the base station  104  and the user equipment  10  communicate (e.g., exchange data or signals, including user data) using the targeted beam. For example, the base station  104  and the user equipment  10  may exchange user data such as data specific to operations requested or initiated by a user executing software applications on the user equipment  10 , such as for transmitting or receiving messages (e.g., electronic mail, Short Message Service (SMS) text message, streaming, gaming, chatting, video conferencing, or the like). In this manner, the method  180  enables the base station  104  to acquire the targeted beam  176 . 
     In cases where the user equipment  10 , for example, performs at least some of the process blocks of the method  180  for reception beam acquisition, process blocks  181 - 183  may be performed, and then the user equipment  10  may determine a position of the base station  104  based on the signal characteristics, and emit a targeted reception beam to the determined position of the base station  104  based on the signal characteristics. The user equipment  10  and the base station  104  may then communicate using the targeted reception beam. 
       FIG.  15    is a schematic diagram of a targeted beam  200  that may be transmitted to the user equipment  10  from the base station  104 A and an indication of a signal  210  transmitted from the user equipment  10  to the base station  104 A. The targeted beam  200  may be formed and provided by the base station  104 A using one or more of the techniques described herein, such that the signal  210  may initially be aligned with the signal  210 . Additionally, the base station  104 A may provide neighboring beams  220 A,  220 B (collectively  220 ) (e.g., beams neighboring the targeted beam  200 ). 
     The neighboring beams  220  may enable the base station  104 A to determine movement of the user equipment  10  (e.g., an updated position of the user equipment  10 ) relative to the base station  104 A. The user equipment  10  may receive the targeted beam  200  and the neighboring beams  220  and transmit the signal  210  to the base station  104 A. In certain embodiments, the signal  210  may indicate signal characteristics of the targeted beam  200  and the neighboring beams  220 . In certain embodiments, the base station  104 A may determine the signal characteristics (e.g., updated signal characteristics) of the targeted beam  200  and the neighboring beams  220  based on the indication of the user equipment  10  (e.g., the signal  210  received from the user equipment  10 ), such as a signal strength associated with each of the targeted beam  200  and the neighboring beams  220 . The base station  104 A may determine whether the signal characteristics are different than previous signal characteristics of the targeted beam  200  and/or the neighboring beams  220 , such as signal characteristics previously determined to form the targeted beam, and may determine that the position of the user equipment  10  relative to the base station  104 A has changed based on the previous signal characteristics of the targeted beam  200  and/or the neighboring beams  220  being different than the newer signal characteristics of the targeted beam  200  and/or the neighboring beams  220 . In some embodiments, the base station  104 A may determine that the signal characteristics are different when the signal characteristics exceed a threshold difference when compared to the previous signal characteristics. In response to determining the difference, the base station  104 A may form an updated targeted beam based on the newer signal characteristics of the targeted beam  200  and/or the neighboring beams  220 . For example, the base station  104 A may steer the targeted beam  200  toward the updated position of the user equipment  10 , such that the targeted beam  200  once again aligns with the updated position of the user equipment  10  and the signal  210  transmitted from the user equipment  10 . 
     The base station  104 A may determine whether the position of the user equipment  10  relative to the base station  104 A has changed periodically, as indicated by a time sequence  222  in  FIG.  15   , aperiodically, and/or on-demand (e.g., as requested by the user equipment  10 ). In certain embodiments, the base station  104 A may determine a periodicity for determining whether the position of the user equipment  10  has changed based on a mobility of the user equipment  10 , a position of the user equipment  10 , a direction of travel of the user equipment  10 , and/or other suitable factors. 
     In certain embodiments, the base station  104 A may only transmit the neighboring beams  220  during periods in which the base station  104 A is determining a potential new position of the user equipment  10 . For example, the time sequence  222  indicates that the base station  104 A transmits the targeted beam  200  (e.g., beam # 2 ) for nine units of time and then transmits the targeted beam  200  and the neighboring beams  220  (e.g., beam # 1  and beam # 3 ) for three units of time (e.g., each beam being transmitted for a unit of time). During and/or after transmitting the targeted beam  200  and the neighboring beams  220 , the base station  104 A may determine the updated signal characteristics of the targeted beam  200  and the neighboring beams  220  and whether the position of the user equipment  10  has changed relative to the base station  104 A. The base station  104 A may adjust (e.g., steer) the targeted beam  200  based on the updated position of the user equipment  10 , emit the targeted beam  200  for nine units of time, emit the targeted beam  200  and the neighboring beams  220 , and continue to repeat the process for tracking the position of the user equipment  10  and adjusting the targeted beam  200  to facilitate communication with the user equipment  10  as the user equipment  10  moves. In certain embodiments, the base station  104 A may determine a size of the targeted beam  200  and the neighboring beams  220  and spacings between the targeted beam  200  and the neighboring beams  220  based on a mobility of the user equipment  10 , a position of the user equipment  10 , a direction of travel of the user equipment  10 , and/or other suitable factors. 
     In certain embodiments, the base station  104 A may track the position of the user equipment  10  using different CSI-RS ports. For example, the neighboring beams  220  may provide CSI signals, and the user equipment  10  may report CSI-RSRPs of the neighboring beams  220  to the base station  104 A. The base station  104 A may determine the signal range estimate based on the reported CSI-RSRPs using the techniques described herein. In certain embodiments, the user equipment  10  may report a phase of an observed RS channel for a relatively high number of neighboring beams  220  and/or a relatively large spacing between the neighboring beams  220 . In certain embodiments, the user equipment  10  may determine the signal range estimate based on the CSI-RSRPs and report the determined signal range estimate to the base station  104 A. 
     In certain embodiments, a modulation coding scheme (MCS) of data transmitted while tracking the position of the user equipment  10  may be adjusted based on feedback from the user equipment  10 , and a different channel quality indicator (CQI) may be used for the neighboring beams  220 . For example, the user equipment  10  may provide feedback indicating the CQI of the targeted beam  200 , and the base station  104 A may adjust the CQI of the neighboring beams  220  to be lower (e.g., one number lower, one step lower) than the CQI of the targeted beam  200 . 
     In certain embodiments, the user equipment  10  may report the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the targeted beam  200  and the neighboring beams  220 , and the base station  104 A may use the reported RSSIs to determine the signal range estimate. In certain embodiments, the user equipment  10  may determine the signal range estimate based on the RSSIs and report the determined signal range estimate to the base station  104 A. 
     For reception beam tracking, the user equipment  10  may sweep neighboring reception beams on different time resources and/or frequency resources and determine signal characteristics of the neighboring reception beams. The user equipment  10  may determine an AoA estimation based on the signal characteristics and align a reception beam based on the signal characteristics of the neighboring reception beams using the techniques described herein. In certain embodiments, the user equipment  10  may use multiple RF chains to form the neighboring reception beam set and determine the signal characteristics of the neighboring reception beams simultaneously to determine the AoA estimation and align the reception beam. Accordingly, the targeted beam  200  and the neighboring beams  220  may be emitted from the base station  104 A, and the user equipment  10  may determine a signal characteristic of each beam, determine an updated position of the user equipment relative to the base station  104 A based on the signal characteristics, and emit a targeted reception beam (e.g., an updated targeted reception beam) based on the updated position of the user equipment  10 . 
       FIG.  16    is a flowchart of a method  230  for beam tracking, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that may control components of the base station  104  and/or the user equipment  10 , such as the processor  12 , may perform the method  230 . In some embodiments, the method  230  may be implemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory  14  or storage  16 , using the processor  12 . For example, the method  230  may be performed at least in part by one or more software components, such as an operating system of the base station  104  and/or the user equipment  10 , one or more software applications of the base station  104  and/or the user equipment  10 , and the like. While the method  230  is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be skipped or not performed altogether. 
     The method  230  may be performed after a targeted beam (e.g.,  176 ,  200 ) has been acquired, such as described in the method  180  of  FIG.  14   . In process block  232 , the base station  104  receives indications (e.g., in the form of the signal  120  or the signal  210 ) of signal characteristics of multiple beams, including the target beam  200 . In process block  234 , the base station  104  determines a position of the user equipment  10  based on the signal characteristics. In decision block  236 , the base station  104  determines whether the position is different from a previously determined position of the user equipment  10 . In some embodiments, the base station  104  may determine that the position is difference if it exceeds a threshold distance (e.g., 1 meter (m) or more, 10 m or more, 50 m or more, 100 m or more 200 m or more, and so on) from the previously determined position. The previously determined position may be determined, for example, in process block  186  of the method  180  of  FIG.  14   . If the base station  104  determines that the position is not different (e.g., does not exceed a threshold distance) from the previously determined position of the user equipment  10 , then, in process block  238 , the base station  104  communicates (e.g., exchanges data or signals, including user data) with the user equipment  10  using the targeted beam  200 . If the base station  104  determines that the position is different (e.g., does exceed a threshold distance) from the previously determined position of the user equipment  10 , then the base station  104  may determine that the user equipment  10  has moved from the previous position, and, in process block  238 , the base station  104  generates and transmits a new targeted beam (e.g., the adjusted beam  200  of  FIG.  15   ) to the newly determined position of the user equipment  10 . In process block  242 , the base station  104  then communicates with the user equipment  10  using the new or adjusted targeted beam  200 . In this manner, the method  230  enables the base station  104  to track the user equipment  10 . Moreover, the user equipment  10  may perform at least some process blocks 
     In cases where the user equipment  10 , for example, performs at least some of the process blocks of the method  230  for reception beam tracking, the user equipment  10  may determine signal characteristics of the multiple beams transmitted by the base station  104 , then perform process blocks  234 - 242 , in which the user equipment  10  transmits a new targeted reception beam in process block  240 . The user equipment  10  and the base station  104  may then communicate using the targeted reception beam per process block  242 . 
     The specific embodiments described above have been shown by way of example, and it should be understood that these embodiments may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. It should be further understood that the claims are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. 
     The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced and applied to material objects and concrete examples of a practical nature that demonstrably improve the present technical field and, as such, are not abstract, intangible or purely theoretical. Further, if any claims appended to the end of this specification contain one or more elements designated as “means for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ” or “step for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ,” it is intended that such elements are to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). However, for any claims containing elements designated in any other manner, it is intended that such elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). 
     It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20230126
Publication Date: 20241112
Grant Date: 20241112
Priority Date: 20220919
Inventors: Chiu, Sung-En
SAMBHWANI, SHARAD
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04B7/0619", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B7/0695", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B7/0619", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B7/0617", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B7/0617", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B7/0619", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B7/0617", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 90243388