Adaptive beam management for millimeter wave wireless communication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2026058716-A1
Application number	US-202418811500-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 21, 2024
Priority date	Aug 21, 2024
Publication date	Feb 26, 2026
Grant date	—

Abstract

Adaptive beam management techniques for millimeter wave wireless communication are disclosed. A wireless device performs a sector level sweep (SLS) to identify multiple transmit beams. The device obtains an indication of N best transmit beams and performs a beam refinement phase (BRP) for each, establishing a list of transmit-receive beam pairs. During operation, if a primary beam is blocked, the device can switch to an alternative beam from the list, indicating the change in request-to-send (RTS) frames. The system supports intelligent beam switching based on signal quality data, device location, quality of service requirements, and historical information. These techniques enable rapid adaptation to changing channel conditions, reducing link outages and improving overall system performance in dynamic environments.

First claim

1 . An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one memory comprising computer-executable instructions; and a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the apparatus to: perform a sector level sweep (SLS), wherein the performance comprises sweeping through a plurality of transmit beams; obtain an indication of a set of N best transmit beams associated with the SLS, where N is an integer greater than one; and perform a beam refinement phase (BRP) associated with the indication for the N best transmit beams.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain an indication of a set of best transmit-receive beam pairs associated with at least one of the SLS, the BRP, or a neighbor-network report.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain a signal quality indicator for each of the N best transmit beams; or obtain a signal quality difference between two or more of the N best transmit beams.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain an indication of a blockage associated with a first transmit beam in the set of N best transmit beams; and output, for transmission, a request-to-send (RTS) frame using a second transmit beam in the set of N best transmit beams, the RTS frame including an indication of the second transmit beam.

5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain an indication of a removal of the blockage associated with the first transmit beam; output, for transmission, a second RTS frame using the first transmit beam, the second RTS frame including an indication of the first transmit beam; and obtain a clear-to-send (CTS) frame after the second RTS frame was output for transmission.

6 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
communicate using the first transmit beam after obtaining the CTS frame.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain data indicating a signal quality of the set of N best transmit beams; and switch between transmit beams in the set of N best transmit beams based on at least one of the data or a configured switch time.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the configured switch time is associated with at least one of:
location of the apparatus; a quality of service (QoS) requirement; or telemetry data.

9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain an indication of a blockage associated with at least one of a first transmit beam and a second transmit beam in the set of N best transmit beams; and output, for transmission, a communication on a third best transmit beam from the set of N best transmit beams.

10 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain an indication of a blockage associated with the second transmit beam; and output, for transmission, a second RTS frame using a third transmit beam in the set of N best transmit beams, the second RTS frame including an indication of the third transmit beam.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain an indication of a removal of the blockage associated with at least one of the first transmit beam or the second transmit beam; and output, for transmission, an RTS frame using the at least one of the first transmit beam or the second transmit beam for which the removal of the blockage was detected.

12 . An apparatus device for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one memory comprising computer-executable instructions; and a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the apparatus to: operate in an omni receive mode during a sector level sweep (SLS), wherein the operation comprises sweeping through a plurality of transmit beams; identify, based on the operation, a set of N best transmit beams, where N is an integer greater than one; output, for transmission, an indication of the set of N best transmit beams.

13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
rank a set of best transmit-receive beam pairs, where the rank is based on the SLS and BRP.

14 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the indication further includes at least one of:
a signal quality indicator for each of the N best transmit beams; or a quantized difference in signal quality relative to a best transmit beam among the N best transmit beams.

15 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain a request-to-send (RTS) frame that includes an indication of a transmit beam; and output, for transmission, a clear-to-send (CTS) frame using a receive beam corresponding to the transmit beam.

16 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain an indication of a blockage of at least one of a first transmit beam or a second transmit beam in the set of N best transmit beams; and output, for transmission, a communication on a third best transmit beam from the set of N best transmit beams.

17 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain a second RTS frame that includes an indication of a second transmit beam, the second transmit beam being different from the transmit beam; and output, for transmission, a second CTS frame using a receive beam corresponding to the second transmit beam.

18 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain an indication of a removal of the blockage; and output, for transmission, a third CTS frame using a receive beam corresponding to either the first or second transmit beam for which the removal of the blockage is associated with.

19 . An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one memory comprising computer-executable instructions; and a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code, the processing system configured to cause the apparatus to: obtain, based on a sector level sweep (SLS) of a plurality of transmit beams, an indication of a set of N best transmit beams in the plurality of transmit beams, where N is an integer greater than one; perform a beam refinement phase (BRP) for each of the N best transmit beams; obtain an indication of a blockage associated with a first transmit beam in the set of N best transmit beams; and output, for transmission, a request-to-send (RTS) frame via a second transmit beam in the set of N best transmit beams, the RTS frame including an indication of the second transmit beam.

20 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
detect a removal of the blockage associated with the first transmit beam; output, for transmission, an RTS frame using the

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Krishna Kumar Raj Kumar
• Datta Tanumay
• Anantharaman Subramanian

Classifications

• H04B7/088

  using beam selection · CPC title

• H04B7/06958 Primary

  Multistage beam selection, e.g. beam refinement · CPC title

• H04B7/0695 Primary

  using beam selection · CPC title