WO2020113009A1

WO2020113009A1 - System and method for uplink beam failure recovery framework

Info

Publication number: WO2020113009A1
Application number: PCT/US2019/063618
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yushu Zhang; Alexei Davydov; Guotong Wang; Gang Xiong
Original assignee: Intel Corp
Current assignee: Intel Corp
Priority date: 2018-11-28
Filing date: 2019-11-27
Publication date: 2020-06-04
Anticipated expiration: 2021-05-28
Also published as: CN113039725A; CN113039725B

Abstract

An apparatus configured to be employed in a user equipment (UE) associated with a new radio (NR) communication system is disclosed. The apparatus comprises one or more processors configured to determine an uplink (UL) beam failure associated with an active UL beam that is configured to utilized by the UE for UL transmission to a gNodeB associated therewith. In some embodiments, the one or more processors is further configured to generate a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal comprising a beam failure recovery request that is indicative of the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, based on the UL beam failure determination. In some embodiments, the one or more processors is further configured to provide the BFRQ signal to the gNodeB, in order to indicate the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam to the gNodeB.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR UPLINK BEAM FAILURE RECOVERY FRAMEWORK

CROSS - REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of and priority to PCT Provisional

Application No. PCT/CN2018/1 17954, filed November 28, 2018, entitled“SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR UPLINK BEAM FAILURE RECOVERY FRAMEWORK”, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to new radio (NR) systems, and in particular, to a system and a method for uplink beam failure recovery in new radio (NR) systems.

BACKGROUND

[0003] 5G New Radio (NR) technology supports very high data rate with lower latency compared to its predecessor LTE (4G) technology. 5G NR supports mmwave frequency band (from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz). As the mmwave band uses very high frequency, it leads to propagation loss and other losses. To compensate for the losses, directional communication is essential at such frequencies. Antenna arrays with large number of antenna elements make directional communication possible due to smaller wavelengths. Directional communication provides beamforming gain to the radio frequency (RF) link budget which helps in compensation of propagation loss. Moreover, large antenna array helps to achieve higher data rate due to spatial multiplexing technique. These directional links require accurate alignment of transmitted and received beams. In order to achieve alignment of beam pair and to have required end to end performance with desired delay, beam management operations are introduced in the 5G NR. Beam management procedure is used in 5G NR in order to acquire and maintain a set of transmit/receive beams which can be used for downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmission/reception. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] Some examples of circuits, apparatuses and/or methods will be described in the following by way of example only. In this context, reference will be made to the accompanying Figures.

[0005] Fig. 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of new radio (NR) system, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.

[0006] Fig. 2a illustrates a simplified block diagram of new radio (NR) system where information of a candidate uplink (UL) beam to be utilized for UL transmission is provided as part of the beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.

[0007] Fig. 2b illustrates a simplified block diagram of new radio (NR) system where information of a candidate uplink (UL) beam to be utilized for UL transmission is not provided as part of the beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.

[0008] Fig. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus employable at a Base Station (BS), eNodeB, gNodeB or other network device that facilitates uplink beam failure recovery, according to various aspects described herein.

[0009] Fig. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus employable at a user equipment (UE) or other network device (e.g., loT device) that facilitates uplink beam failure recovery, according to various aspects described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] In one embodiment of the disclosure, an apparatus configured to be employed in a user equipment (UE) associated with a new radio (NR) system is disclosed. The apparatus comprises one or more processors configured to determine an uplink (UL) beam failure associated with an active UL beam that is configured to be utilized by the UE for UL transmission to a gNodeB associated therewith. In some embodiments, the one or more processors is further configured to generate a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal comprising a beam failure recovery request that is indicative of the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, based on the UL beam failure determination. In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a radio frequency (RF) interface, configured to provide, to a radio frequency (RF) circuitry, the BFRQ signal, for subsequent transmission to the gNodeB, in order to indicate the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam to the gNodeB.

[0011] In one embodiment of the disclosure, an apparatus configured to be employed in a gNodeB associated with a new radio (NR) system is disclosed. The apparatus comprises one or more processors configured to process a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal, received from a user equipment (UE) associated therewith. In some embodiments, the BFRQ signal comprises a beam failure recovery request that is indicative of a UL beam failure associated with an active UL beam. In some embodiments, the one or more processors is further configured to generate a beam failure recovery (BFR) response signal, in response to processing the BFRQ signal. In some embodiments, the BFR response signal comprises an

acknowledgement of a receipt of the BFRQ signal from the UE. In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a radio frequency (RF) interface, configured to provide, to a radio frequency (RF) circuitry, the BFR response signal, for subsequent

transmission to the UE, in order to acknowledge the receipt of the BFRQ signal from the UE.

[0012] In one embodiment of the disclosure, a computer readable storage device storing executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) to perform operations. In some embodiments, the operations comprise determining an uplink (UL) beam failure associated with an active UL beam that is configured to be utilized by the UE for UL transmission to a gNodeB associated therewith. In some embodiments, the operations further comprise generating a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal comprising a beam failure recovery request that is indicative of the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, to be provided to the gNodeB, based on the UL beam failure determination.

[0013] The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout, and wherein the illustrated structures and devices are not necessarily drawn to scale. As utilized herein, terms“component,”“system,”“interface,”“circuit” and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, hardware, software (e.g., in execution), and/or firmware. For example, a component can be a processor (e.g., a microprocessor, a controller, or other processing device), a process running on a processor, a controller, an object, an executable, a program, a storage device, a computer, a tablet PC and/or a user equipment (e.g., mobile phone, etc.) with a processing device. By way of illustration, an application running on a server and the server can also be a component. One or more components can reside within a process, and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. A set of elements or a set of other components can be described herein, in which the term“set” can be interpreted as“one or more.”

[0014] Further, these components can execute from various computer readable storage media having various data structures stored thereon such as with a module, for example. The components can communicate via local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network, such as, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, or similar network with other systems via the signal).

[0015] As another example, a component can be an apparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical parts operated by electric or electronic circuitry, in which the electric or electronic circuitry can be operated by a software application or a firmware application executed by one or more processors. The one or more processors can be internal or external to the apparatus and can execute at least a part of the software or firmware application. As yet another example, a component can be an apparatus that provides specific functionality through electronic components without mechanical parts; the electronic components can include one or more processors therein to execute software and/or firmware that confer(s), at least in part, the functionality of the electronic components.

[0016] Use of the word exemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, the term“or” is intended to mean an inclusive“or” rather than an exclusive“or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then“X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles“a” and“an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean“one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. Furthermore, to the event that the terms "including", "includes", "having", "has", "with", or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description and the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term

"comprising."

[0017] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail.

[0018] As indicated above, beam management procedure is used in 5G NR in order to acquire and maintain a set of transmit (Tx)/receive (Rx) beams which can be used for downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmission/reception. Therefore, in 5G systems operating in high band, e.g. above 6GHz, both user equipment (UE) and gNodeB may maintain a plurality of beams. In some embodiments, a beam indicates a spatial domain filter. A good gNodeB-UE beam pair can help to increase link budget. With the help of beamforming, Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) of the UE could increase. However, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to reduce a maximum transmission power associated with certain UE beams (for example, a UE beams that is selected for UL transmission), in order to meet certain system constraints. [0019] For example, in some embodiments, the main-lobe or the side-lobe of a UE beam may be targeting to human body which has more stringent safety emission limits. Thus, if such a kind of UE beam is selected for uplink transmission from the UE, thereby forming an active UL beam, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to reduce the maximum transmission power of the selected UE beam (i.e., the active UL beam), in order to meet some system constraints. If the direction of the UE beam is close to human, the corresponding maximum power reduction (MPR) for the UE beam could be so large that gNodeB may not receive a corresponding uplink signal correctly, which can be considered as uplink (UL) beam failure. Alternately, in other embodiments, the maximum transmission power of the UL beam may be reduced due to other reasons, which may also lead to UL beam failure. In such cases, although the uplink beam fails, downlink beam can still work, since there is no power reduction in downlink side. Thus, in such embodiments, for effective uplink communication, it is essential to recover the uplink beam, when uplink beam failure occurs. In some embodiments, recovering the uplink refers to determining/selecting/indicating an alternate uplink beam different from the failed uplink beam for uplink communication from the UE.

[0020] Therefore, a system and a method for uplink beam recovery is proposed in this disclosure. In particular, in one embodiment, a UE configured to determine an uplink (UL) beam failure associated with an active UL beam and generate a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal comprising a beam failure recovery request that is indicative of the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, to be provided to a gNodeB associated therewith is proposed herein. In some embodiments, the UE is further configured to determine a candidate UL beam to be utilized for UL transmission instead of the active UL beam and provide information of the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB, in order to enable the gNodeB to choose the candidate beam as the uplink beam (thereby aiding uplink beam recovery).

[0021] In another embodiment, a gNodeB configured to process the BFRQ signal from the UE and generate a beam failure recovery (BFR) response signal, to be provided to the UE, in response to processing the BFRQ signal. In some embodiments, the BFR response signal comprises an acknowledgement of a receipt of the BFRQ signal. In some embodiments, the gNodeB is further configured to receive information on the candidate UL beam from the UE and provide a UL beam indication to the UE. In some embodiments, the UL beam indication comprises information on a new UL beam comprising the candidate UL beam to be utilized for subsequent UL transmission from the UE. In some embodiments, the proposed UL beam failure recovery framework enables to maintain reliable UL communication, even when a UL beam chosen for UL transmission fails.

[0022] Fig. 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a new radio (NR) system 100, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. In some embodiments, the NR system 100 facilitates to perform uplink (UL) beam failure recovery. The NR system 100 comprises a gNodeB 102 and a user equipment (UE) 104. In other embodiments, however, the NR system 100 can comprise a plurality of gNodeBs and UEs. In some embodiments, the gNodeB 102 is equivalent to a base station, an eNodeB in long term evolution (LTE) systems etc. In some embodiments, the UE 104 may comprise a mobile phone, a tablet computer, an internet of things (loT) device etc. The gNodeB 102 and the UE 104 are configured to communicate with one another over a communication medium (e.g., air). In some embodiments, the gNodeB 102 and the UE 104 supports multi-beam operation. In some embodiments, the gNodeB 102 is configured to provide spatial relation information indicative of an UL beam to be utilized by the UE 104 for UL signal/channel transmission.

[0023] In some embodiments, the gNodeB 102 may be configured to configure an active UL beam to be utilized by the UE 104 for UL transmission to the gNodeB 102. In some embodiments, the active UL beam comprises a UL beam chosen/configured (e.g., by the gNodeB 102) to be utilized for UL communication from the UE 104 to the gNodeB 102. In some embodiments, the gNodeB 102 is further configured to provide information on the active UL beam to the UE 104, in order to enable the UE 104 to choose the active UL beam for UL transmission to the gNodeB 102. Upon determining the active UL beam, the UE 104 may be configured to perform UL transmission utilizing the active UL beam. In some embodiments, the UE 104 is configured to

adjust/configure a transmission power associated with the active UL beam, in order to meet certain system constraints (e.g., when the main-lobe or the side-lobe of the active UE beam may be targeting to human body). In particular, in some embodiments, the UE 104 may be configured to reduce the transmission power associated with the active UL beam (referred to as a maximum power reduction (MPR) of the active UL beam) from a predefined transmission power for the UE 104 (e.g., the UE’s maximum transmission power for current component cell (CC), Pcmax). In some embodiments, based on the transmission power of the active UL beam or the UL channel conditions, or both, the UL transmission using the active UL beam may fail, referred to as the UL beam failure. In such embodiments, in order to facilitate effective UL communication from the UE 104 to the gNodeB 102, it is essential to perform UL beam failure recovery. In other words, in such embodiments, it is essential to identify the UL beam failure and determine an alternate UL beam different from the active UL beam to be utilized for UL communication with the gNodeB 102.

[0024] In order to facilitate UL beam failure recovery, in some embodiments, the UE 104 is configured to determine an uplink (UL) beam failure associated with the active UL beam that is configured to utilized by the UE 104 for UL transmission to the gNodeB 102. In some embodiments, the UE 104 is configured to determine the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, when the transmission power associated with the active UL beam is reduced. However, in other embodiments, the UE 104 may be configured to determine the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, even when the transmission power associated with the active UL beam is not reduced (i.e., AMPR=0). In some embodiments, the UE 104 is configured to determine the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, based on determining one or more UL beam failure instances associated with the active UL beam. In some embodiments, each UL beam failure instance of the one or more UL beam failure instances is indicative of a beam failure associated with the active UL beam. For example, in one embodiment, the UE 104 may be configured to determine/declare the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam after N consecutive UL beam failure instances are

detected/determined at the UE 104. In some embodiments, N is predefined or configured by higher level signaling.

[0025] In some embodiments, the UE 104 may be configured to determine a UL beam failure instance associated with the active UL beam, at least partly, based on a reference signal received power (RSRP) associated with a beam failure detection (BFD) downlink (DL) reference signal 106. In some embodiments, the BFD DL reference signal 106 comprises a DL reference signal that is quasi co-located (QCL-ed) with a downlink reference signal indicated in a spatial relation info or pathloss measurement for uplink channel, that is, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and/or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). In other words, the BFD DL reference signal 106 comprises a DL reference signal that is associated with a DL beam that corresponds to the active UL beam. In some embodiments, the BFD DL reference signal 106 comprises a synchronization signal block (SSB) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0026] In some embodiments, the BFD DL reference signal 106 may be periodically transmitted at predefined periodic time intervals. In some embodiments, the RSRP associated with the BFD DL reference signal 106 is indicative of a UL channel quality for the active UL beam. Therefore, in some embodiments, if the RSRP associated with the BFD DL reference signal 106 is low (e.g., less than a predefined threshold), based on the transmission power of the UL transmission using the active UL beam, the UE can predict/determine the UL beam failure instance. In a first example embodiment, the UE 104 is configured to determine a UL beam failure instance if RSRPj < Ttirst, where RSRPj comprises an RSRP associated with a j^th transmission of the BFD DL reference signal 106 and Ttirst is a predefined first RSRP threshold.

[0027] In a second example embodiment, the UE 104 is configured to determine a UL beam failure instance if RSRPj - MPR < Tsecond, where RSRPj comprises the RSRP associated with a j^th transmission of the BFD DL reference signal 106, MPR is the maximum power reduction associated with the active UL beam and Tsecond is a predefined second RSRP threshold. In a third example embodiment, the UE 104 is configured to determine a UL beam failure instance, if Pcmax - MRP - {P0 + alpha ^* (RSRPj - PTX) + f} < Tthird, where Pcmax comprises a maximum transmission power of the UE 104 for the current component cell (CC), MRP is the maximum power reduction associated with the active UL beam, RSRPj comprises the RSRP associated with a j^th transmission of the BFD DL reference signal 106, PTX comprises transmission power for the BFD DL reference signal 106, Tthird is a predefined third RSRP threshold and P0 (target received power), alpha (path loss compensation fact) and f (closed loop power control adjustment) comprise power control parameters indicated to the UE 104 by the gNodeB 102. Alternately, in some embodiments, the UE 104 is configured to determine a UL beam failure instance if the MPR > TMPR, where MPR is the maximum power reduction associated with the active UL beam and the TMPR comprises a predefined MPR threshold.

[0028] However, in other embodiments, the UE 104 may be configured to determine a UL beam failure instance associated with the active UL beam differently, for example, based on one or more of UL beam failure detection (BFD) parameters comprising power control parameters i.e., P0, alpha, closed-loop power control factor f, a reference signal received power (RSRP) associated with the BFD downlink (DL) reference signal 106, a transmission power for the BFD DL reference signal 106 PTX, a maximum transmission power of the UE for the current component cell Pcmax, a maximum power reduction (MPR) for the active UL beam and a higher layer configured threshold T.

[0029] Upon determining the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, in some embodiments, the UE 104 is further configured to generate a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal 108 comprising a beam failure recovery request that is indicative of the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam. In some embodiments, the UE 104 is further configured to provide the BFRQ signal 108 to the gNodeB 102, in order to indicate the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam to the gNodeB 102. Upon receiving the BFRQ signal 108, the gNodeB 102 is further configured to process the BFRQ signal 108 and identify/determine the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, based thereon. In some embodiments, the gNodeB 102 is further configured to generate a beam failure recovery (BFR) response signal 1 10, in response to processing the BFRQ signal 108. In some embodiments, the BFR response signal 1 10 comprises an acknowledgement of a receipt of the BFRQ signal 108 from the UE 104. In some embodiments, the gNodeB 102 is further configured to provide the BFR response signal 1 10 to the UE 104, in order to acknowledge the receipt of the BFRQ signal 108 from the UE 104. In some

embodiments, the gNodeB 102 is configured to provide/transmit the BFR response signal 1 10 by a dedicated Control Resource Set (CORESET) or Search Space (SS), or by a Downlink Control Information (DCI) associated with a dedicated Radio Network Temporary ID (RNTI). In such embodiments, the UE 104 is further configured to process the BFR response signal 1 10, in response to providing the BFRQ signal 108 to the gNodeB 102. [0030] In some embodiments, the UE 104 is further configured to determine a candidate UL beam to be utilized for UL transmission instead of the active UL beam, upon determining the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam. In some embodiments, the UE 104 is configured to determine the candidate UL beam, based on determining one or more of candidate UL beam identification parameters associated with a set of UL beams associated with the UE 104 that comprises the candidate UL beam. In some embodiments, the candidate UL beam identification parameters for each UL beam of the set of UL beams comprises power control parameters, a reference signal received power (RSRP) associated with a corresponding downlink (DL) reference signal, transmission power for the corresponding DL reference signal, maximum transmission power of the UE for the current component cell, maximum power reduction (MPR) for the UL beam and a higher layer configured threshold. In some embodiments, the metric to identify the candidate UL beam could be the same as that is used for uplink beam failure detection with the same or a different threshold. In some

embodiments, the DL reference signal comprises a synchronization signal block (SSB) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0031] In some embodiments, the UE 104 is further configured to provide information on the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB 102. In some embodiments, the UE 104 is configured to provide information of the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB 102, via the BFRQ signal 108, as shown in Fig. 2a. In particular, the BFRQ signal 202 in Fig. 2a comprises the candidate UL beam information. For example, in some embodiments, the UE 104 is configured to transmit/provide the BFRQ signal 108 to the gNodeB 102 by physical random access channel (PRACH) or physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or media access control (MAC) control element (CE) in the same component carrier (CC) as the active UL beam or in a different CC. For PRACH based operation in the same CC, the UE 104 may transmit/provide the BFRQ signal 108 by PRACH resource which is associated with the SSB/CSI-RS of the newly determined candidate UL beam (thereby the BFRQ signal 108 being indicative of the candidate UL beam). In such embodiments, therefore, the UE 104 is configured to provide information on the candidate UL beam as part of the BFRQ signal 108.

[0032] In some embodiments, the PRACH resource may be contention-free or contention based. For contention-free PRACH based operation, the PRACH resource could be configured by higher layer signaling. In some embodiments, the dedicatedly configured PRACH resource for uplink beam failure recovery could be different from PRACH resource configured for downlink beam failure recovery. For contention-based PRACH based operation, the PRACH resource is selected by the UE 104 from PRACH resources utilized for initial access. In such embodiments, collision may be handled by message 4 which is similar to initial access procedure in 5G NR systems. Alternatively, different PRACH resources can be configured for DL and UL beam failure recovery.

The resource partition can be realized in a time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), code division multiplexing (CDM) or a combination thereof.

[0033] For PUCCH based operation in the same CC, the UE 104 may

transmit/provide the BFRQ signal by PUCCH resource which is associated with the SSB/CSI-RS of the newly determined candidate UL beam (thereby the BFRQ signal 108 being indicative of the candidate UL beam). In such embodiments, therefore, the UE 104 may be configured to provide information on the candidate UL beam as part of the BFRQ signal 108. In some embodiments, the PUCCH resource may be configured by higher layer signaling. For PUCCH based operation, a one-bit indicator may be added as part of the BFRQ signal 108 to indicate whether the beam failure recovery request (included within the BFRQ signal 108) is for downlink beam failure recovery or uplink beam failure recovery. In some embodiments, a scheduling request based PUCCH may be used to trigger UL beam failure recovery (i.e., to transmit the BFRQ signal 108 from the UE 104). In some embodiments, the PUCCH resource allocated for the beam failure indication (that is used for scheduling request to transmit the BFRQ signal 108 from the UE 104) may be different from resources allocated for a normal scheduling request based PUCCH.

[0034] Further, in order to transmit the BFRQ signal 108 in another CC, in some embodiments, PUCCH based or MAC CE based operation may be used. In such embodiments, the UE 104 may be configured to transmit/provide the BFRQ signal 108 comprising the information on the candidate UL beam as well as corresponding failing CC index (i.e., the CC associated with the candidate UL beam) by a configured PUCCH resource or by MAC CE in another CC. In some embodiments, the information on the candidate UL beam could include at least an SSB/CSI-RS resource index associated with the candidate UL beam, or an SSB/CSI-RS resource index associated with the candidate UL beam and an RSRP associated therewith.

[0035] Alternately, in other embodiments, the UE 104 may be configured to provide information of the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB 102 by messages after the BFRQ signal 108, as shown in Fig. 2b. In particular, the BFRQ signal 252 in Fig. 2b does not comprise the candidate UL beam information. In order to provide information on the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB 102, in one example embodiment, the UE 104 is configured to generate a beam reporting signal (e.g., the beam reporting signal 256 in Fig. 2b) comprising the information on the candidate UL beam and provide the beam reporting signal to the gNodeB 102. In some embodiments, the UE 102 is configured to generate the beam reporting signal comprising the information on the candidate UL beam, when the gNodeB 102 triggers beam reporting. In some embodiments, the gNodeB 102 is configured to trigger beam reporting based on the BFR response signal 1 10 (e.g., the BFR response signal 254 in Fig. 2a). In such embodiments, the BFR response signal 1 10 may be configured to trigger beam reporting from the UE 104. Alternately, in other embodiments, the UE 104 may be configured to provide information of the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB 102 by messages different from the beam reporting signal.

[0036] In some embodiments, the gNodeB 102 is further configured to provide a UL beam indication to the UE 104, in response to receiving the information on the candidate UL beam from the UE 104. In some embodiments, the UL beam indication comprises information on a new UL beam comprising the candidate UL beam to be utilized for subsequent UL transmission from the UE 104. In some embodiments, the gNodeB 102 is configured to provide the UL beam indication to the UE 104, via the BFR response signal 108, as shown in Fig. 2a. In particular, the BFR response signal 204 in Fig. 2a may comprise the UL beam indication, in some embodiments. Typically, the gNodeB 102 is configured to provide the UL beam indication to the UE 104, via the BFR response signal 108 in embodiments where the information on the candidate UL beam is provided to the gNodeB 102 before the transmission of the BFR response signal 204 (e.g., as in Fig. 2a where the information on the candidate UL beam is included within the BFRQ signal 202). [0037] Alternately, in other embodiments, the gNodeB 102 is configured to provide the UL beam indication to the UE 104 based on generating a UL beam indication signal 1 12 comprising the UL beam indication, as shown in Fig. 2a and Fig. 2b. Typically, the UL beam indication signal 1 12 is generated at the gNodeB 102 in embodiments where the BFR response signal 1 10 does not include the UL beam indication. In particular, in Fig, 2a, the UL beam indication signal 206 is generated when the BFR response signal 204 does not include the UL beam indication. Similarly, in Fig. 2b, the UL beam indication signal 258 is generated when the BFR response signal 204 does not include the UL beam indication. Upon receiving the UL beam indication (via the BFR response signal 1 10 or via the UL beam indication signal 1 12) at the UE 104, the UE 104 is further configured to utilize the new beam comprising the candidate UL beam (indicated as part of the UL beam indication) for subsequent UL transmission. In some

embodiments, the UE 104 is configured to utilize the new beam indicated as part of the UL beam indication for UL transmission, until an updated UL beam information to be utilized for PUCCH resource is provided/indicated by the gNodeB 102.

[0038] Referring to FIG. 3, illustrated is a block diagram of an apparatus 300 employable at a Base Station (BS), eNodeB, gNodeB or other network device that facilitates uplink beam failure recovery, according to various aspects described herein.

The apparatus 300 can include one or more processors 310 comprising processing circuitry and associated interface(s) (e.g., a radio frequency interface), communication circuitry 320, which can comprise one or more of transmitter circuitry (e.g., associated with one or more transmit chains) or receiver circuitry (e.g., associated with one or more receive chains), wherein the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry can employ common circuit elements, distinct circuit elements, or a combination thereof), and memory 330 (which can comprise any of a variety of storage mediums and can store instructions and/or data associated with one or more of processor(s) 310 or

communication circuitry 320). In various aspects, the apparatus 300 can be included within an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B

(Evolved Node B, eNodeB, or eNB), next generation Node B (gNodeB or gNB) or other base station or TRP (Transmit/Receive Point) in a wireless communications network. In some aspects, the processor(s) 310, communication circuitry 320, and the memory 330 can be included in a single device, while in other aspects, they can be included in different devices, such as part of a distributed architecture. In some embodiments, the apparatus 300 could be included within the gNodeB 102 of Fig. 1 or the gNodeB 203 in Fig. 2a or the gNodeB 253 in Fig. 2b.

[0039] Referring to FIG. 4, illustrated is a block diagram of an apparatus 400 employable at a user equipment (UE) or other network device (e.g., loT device) that facilitates uplink beam failure recovery, according to various aspects described herein. Apparatus 400 can include one or more processors 410 comprising processing circuitry and associated interface(s) (e.g., radio frequency interface), transceiver circuitry 420 (e.g., comprising RF circuitry, which can comprise transmitter circuitry (e.g., associated with one or more transmit chains) and/or receiver circuitry (e.g., associated with one or more receive chains) that can employ common circuit elements, distinct circuit elements, or a combination thereof), and a memory 430 (which can comprise any of a variety of storage mediums and can store instructions and/or data associated with one or more of processor(s) 410 or transceiver circuitry 420). In various aspects, apparatus 400 can be included within a user equipment (UE).

[0040] In various aspects discussed herein, signals and/or messages can be generated and output for transmission, and/or transmitted messages can be received and processed. Depending on the type of signal or message generated, outputting for transmission (e.g., by processor(s) 410) can comprise one or more of the following: generating a set of associated bits that indicate the content of the signal or message, coding (e.g., which can include adding a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) and/or coding via one or more of turbo code, low density parity-check (LDPC) code, tailbiting convolution code (TBCC), etc.), scrambling (e.g., based on a scrambling seed), modulating (e.g., via one of binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), or some form of quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), etc.), and/or resource mapping (e.g., to a scheduled set of resources, to a set of time and frequency resources granted for uplink transmission, etc.). Depending on the type of received signal or message, processing (e.g., by processor(s) 410) can comprise one or more of: identifying physical resources associated with the signal/message, detecting the signal/message, resource element group deinterleaving, demodulation, descrambling, and/or decoding. In some embodiments, the apparatus 400 could be included within the UE 104 of Fig. 1 or the UE 205 in Fig. 2a or the UE 255 in Fig. 2b. [0041] Examples can include subject matter such as a method, means for performing acts or blocks of the method, at least one machine-readable medium including instructions that, when performed by a machine cause the machine to perform acts of the method or of an apparatus or system for concurrent communication using multiple communication technologies according to embodiments and examples described herein.

[0042] Example 1 is an apparatus configured to be employed in a user equipment (UE) associated with a new radio (NR) system, comprising one or more processors configured to determine an uplink (UL) beam failure associated with an active UL beam that is configured to utilized by the UE for UL transmission to a gNodeB associated therewith; and generate a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal comprising a beam failure recovery request that is indicative of the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, based on the UL beam failure determination; and a radio frequency (RF) interface, configured to provide, to a radio frequency (RF) circuitry, the BFRQ signal, for subsequent transmission to the gNodeB, in order to indicate the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam to the gNodeB.

[0043] Example 2 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of example 1 , wherein the one or more processors is further configured to process a beam failure recovery (BFR) response signal, received from the gNodeB, in response to providing the BFRQ signal to the gNodeB, wherein the BFR response signal comprises an acknowledgement of a receipt of the BFRQ signal from the UE.

[0044] Example 3 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 1 -2, including or omitting elements, wherein, upon determining the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, the one or more processors is further configured to determine a candidate UL beam to be utilized for UL transmission instead of the active UL beam and provide information of the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB.

[0045] Example 4 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 1 -3, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to provide information of the candidate UL beam to be utilized for UL transmission instead of the active UL beam, to the gNodeB, via the BFRQ signal. [0046] Example 5 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 1 -4, including or omitting elements, wherein, in order to provide information of the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB, the one or more processors is further configured to generate a beam reporting signal comprising information of the candidate UL beam to be utilized for UL transmission instead of the active UL beam, to be provided to the gNodeB.

[0047] Example 6 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 1 -5, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to generate the beam reporting signal, in response to processing the BFR response signal received from the gNodeB, wherein the BFR response signal is configured to trigger beam reporting from the UE.

[0048] Example 7 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 1 -6, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is further configured to receive UL beam indication from the gNodeB, in response to providing information of the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB, wherein the UL beam indication comprises information on a new UL beam comprising the candidate UL beam to be utilized for subsequent UL transmission.

[0049] Example 8 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 1 -7, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to receive the UL beam indication, based on processing the BFR response signal comprising the UL beam indication.

[0050] Example 9 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 1 -8, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to receive the UL beam indication, based on processing a UL beam indication signal comprising the UL beam indication that is received from the gNodeB.

[0051] Example 10 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 1 -9, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to determine the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, when a

transmission power of the active UL beam is reduced by the UE.

[0052] Example 1 1 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 1 -10, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to determine the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, based on determining one or more UL beam failure instances associated with the active UL beam, each UL beam failure instance being indicative of a beam failure associated with the active UL beam.

[0053] Example 12 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 1 -1 1 , including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to determine a UL beam failure instance associated with the active UL beam based on one or more of UL beam failure detection (BFD) parameters comprising power control parameters, a reference signal received power (RSRP) associated with a BFD downlink (DL) reference signal, a transmission power for the BFD DL reference signal, a maximum transmission power of the UE for the current component cell, a maximum power reduction (MPR) for the active UL beam and a higher layer configured threshold.

[0054] Example 13 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 1 -12, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to determine a UL beam failure instance associated with the active UL beam, at least partly, based on a reference signal received power (RSRP) associated with a beam failure detection (BFD) downlink (DL) reference signal.

[0055] Example 14 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 1 -13, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to determine the candidate UL beam, based on determining one or more of candidate UL beam identification parameters associated with a set of UL beams comprising the candidate UL beam, wherein the candidate UL beam identification parameters comprises power control parameters, a reference signal received power (RSRP) associated with a corresponding downlink (DL) reference signal, a transmission power for the corresponding DL reference signal, a maximum transmission power of the UE for the current component cell, a maximum power reduction (MPR) for the UL beam and a higher layer configured threshold.

[0056] Example 15 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 1 -14, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to provide the BFRQ signal to the gNodeB using resources associated with a same component carrier (CC) that is associated with the active UL beam, or using resources associated with a different CC.

[0057] Example 16 is an apparatus configured to be employed in a gNodeB associated with a new radio (NR) communication system, comprising one or more processors configured to process a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal, received from a user equipment (UE) associated therewith, wherein the BFRQ signal comprises a beam failure recovery request that is indicative of a UL beam failure associated with an active UL beam; and generate a beam failure recovery (BFR) response signal, in response to processing the BFRQ signal, wherein the BFR response signal comprises an acknowledgement of a receipt of the BFRQ signal from the UE; and a radio frequency (RF) interface, configured to provide, to a radio frequency (RF) circuitry, the BFR response signal, for subsequent transmission to the UE, in order to acknowledge the receipt of the BFRQ signal from the UE.

[0058] Example 17 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of example 16, wherein the one or more processors is further configured to receive, from the UE, information on a candidate UL beam to be utilized for UL transmission for the UE, instead of the active UL beam.

[0059] Example 18 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 16-17, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to receive information on the candidate UL beam from the UE, via the BFRQ signal.

[0060] Example 19 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 16-18, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to receive information on the candidate UL beam from the UE, based on processing a beam reporting signal comprising information of the candidate UL beam, received from the UE.

[0061] Example 20 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 16-19, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to receive the beam reporting signal from the UE, in response to providing the BFR response signal, wherein the BFR response signal is configured to trigger beam reporting from the UE. [0062] Example 21 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 16-20, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is further configured to provide UL beam indication to the UE, in response to receiving information on the candidate UL beam from the UE, wherein the UL beam indication comprises information on a new UL beam comprising the candidate UL beam to be utilized for subsequent UL transmission from the UE.

[0063] Example 22 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 16-21 , including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to provide the UL beam indication to the UE, via the BFR response signal.

[0064] Example 23 is an apparatus, including the subject matter of examples 16-22, including or omitting elements, wherein the one or more processors is configured to provide the UL beam indication to the UE based on generating a UL beam indication signal comprising the UL beam indication.

[0065] Example 24 is a computer readable storage device storing executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) to perform operations, the operations comprising determining an uplink (UL) beam failure associated with an active UL beam that is configured to utilized by the UE for UL transmission to a gNodeB associated therewith; and generating a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal comprising a beam failure recovery request that is indicative of the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, to be provided to the gNodeB, based on the UL beam failure determination.

[0066] Example 25 is a computer readable storage device, including the subject matter of example 24, wherein the operations further comprises determining a candidate UL beam to be utilized for UL transmission instead of the active UL beam; and providing information of the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB.

[0067] While the invention has been illustrated, and described with respect to one or more implementations, alterations and/or modifications may be made to the illustrated examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described

components or structures (assemblies, devices, circuits, systems, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a "means") used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component or structure which performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary implementations of the invention.

[0068] The above description of illustrated embodiments of the subject disclosure, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. While specific embodiments and examples are described herein for illustrative purposes, various modifications are possible that are considered within the scope of such embodiments and examples, as those skilled in the relevant art can recognize.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1 . An apparatus configured to be employed in a user equipment (UE) associated with a new radio (NR) system, comprising: one or more processors configured to: determine an uplink (UL) beam failure associated with an active UL beam that is configured to utilized by the UE for UL transmission to a gNodeB associated therewith; and

generate a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal comprising a beam failure recovery request that is indicative of the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, based on the UL beam failure determination; and a radio frequency (RF) interface, configured to provide, to a radio frequency (RF) circuitry, the BFRQ signal, for subsequent transmission to the gNodeB, in order to indicate the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam to the gNodeB.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors is further configured to process a beam failure recovery (BFR) response signal, received from the gNodeB, in response to providing the BFRQ signal to the gNodeB, wherein the BFR response signal comprises an acknowledgement of a receipt of the BFRQ signal from the UE.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein, upon determining the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, the one or more processors is further configured to determine a candidate UL beam to be utilized for UL transmission instead of the active UL beam and provide information of the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the one or more processors is configured to provide information of the candidate UL beam to be utilized for UL transmission instead of the active UL beam, to the gNodeB, via the BFRQ signal.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein, in order to provide information of the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB, the one or more processors is further configured to generate a beam reporting signal comprising information of the candidate UL beam to be utilized for UL transmission instead of the active UL beam, to be provided to the gNodeB.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors is configured to generate the beam reporting signal, in response to processing the BFR response signal received from the gNodeB, wherein the BFR response signal is configured to trigger beam reporting from the UE.

7. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the one or more processors is further configured to receive UL beam indication from the gNodeB, in response to providing information of the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB, wherein the UL beam indication comprises information on a new UL beam comprising the candidate UL beam to be utilized for subsequent UL transmission.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the one or more processors is configured to receive the UL beam indication, based on processing the BFR response signal comprising the UL beam indication.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the one or more processors is configured to receive the UL beam indication, based on processing a UL beam indication signal comprising the UL beam indication that is received from the gNodeB.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors is configured to determine the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, when a transmission power of the active UL beam is reduced by the UE.

1 1 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors is configured to determine the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, based on determining one or more UL beam failure instances associated with the active UL beam, each UL beam failure instance being indicative of a beam failure associated with the active UL beam.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 1 , wherein the one or more processors is configured to determine a UL beam failure instance associated with the active UL beam based on one or more of UL beam failure detection (BFD) parameters comprising power control parameters, a reference signal received power (RSRP) associated with a BFD downlink (DL) reference signal, a transmission power for the BFD DL reference signal, a maximum transmission power of the UE for the current component cell, a maximum power reduction (MPR) for the active UL beam and a higher layer configured threshold.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 1 , wherein the one or more processors is configured to determine a UL beam failure instance associated with the active UL beam, at least partly, based on a reference signal received power (RSRP) associated with a beam failure detection (BFD) downlink (DL) reference signal.

14. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the one or more processors is configured to determine the candidate UL beam, based on determining one or more of candidate UL beam identification parameters associated with a set of UL beams comprising the candidate UL beam, wherein the candidate UL beam identification parameters comprises power control parameters, a reference signal received power (RSRP) associated with a corresponding downlink (DL) reference signal, a transmission power for the corresponding DL reference signal, a maximum transmission power of the UE for the current component cell, a maximum power reduction (MPR) for the UL beam and a higher layer configured threshold.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors is configured to provide the BFRQ signal to the gNodeB using resources associated with a same component carrier (CC) that is associated with the active UL beam, or using resources associated with a different CC.

16. An apparatus configured to be employed in a gNodeB associated with a new radio (NR) communication system, comprising:

one or more processors configured to: process a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal, received from a user equipment (UE) associated therewith, wherein the BFRQ signal comprises a beam failure recovery request that is indicative of a UL beam failure associated with an active UL beam; and generate a beam failure recovery (BFR) response signal, in response to processing the BFRQ signal, wherein the BFR response signal comprises an acknowledgement of a receipt of the BFRQ signal from the UE; and a radio frequency (RF) interface, configured to provide, to a radio frequency (RF) circuitry, the BFR response signal, for subsequent transmission to the UE, in order to acknowledge the receipt of the BFRQ signal from the UE.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors is further configured to receive, from the UE, information on a candidate UL beam to be utilized for UL transmission for the UE, instead of the active UL beam.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the one or more processors is configured to receive information on the candidate UL beam from the UE, via the BFRQ signal.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the one or more processors is configured to receive information on the candidate UL beam from the UE, based on processing a beam reporting signal comprising information of the candidate UL beam, received from the UE.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the one or more processors is configured to receive the beam reporting signal from the UE, in response to providing the BFR response signal, wherein the BFR response signal is configured to trigger beam reporting from the UE.

21 . The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the one or more processors is further configured to provide UL beam indication to the UE, in response to receiving information on the candidate UL beam from the UE, wherein the UL beam indication comprises information on a new UL beam comprising the candidate UL beam to be utilized for subsequent UL transmission from the UE.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the one or more processors is configured to provide the UL beam indication to the UE, via the BFR response signal.

23. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the one or more processors is configured to provide the UL beam indication to the UE based on generating a UL beam indication signal comprising the UL beam indication.

24. A computer readable storage device storing executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) to perform operations, the operations comprising: determining an uplink (UL) beam failure associated with an active UL beam that is configured to utilized by the UE for UL transmission to a gNodeB associated therewith; and generating a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) signal comprising a beam failure recovery request that is indicative of the UL beam failure associated with the active UL beam, to be provided to the gNodeB, based on the UL beam failure determination.

25. The computer readable storage device of claim 26, wherein the operations further comprises:

determining a candidate UL beam to be utilized for UL transmission instead of the active UL beam; and

providing information of the candidate UL beam to the gNodeB.