BR112017005498B1 - CONTROL MECHANISM INITIATED BY THE BASE STATION TO SUPPORT SUPPLEMENTAL LINK - Google Patents

Abstract

CONTROL MECHANISM INITIATED BY THE BASE STATION TO SUPPORT SUPPLEMENTAL LINK. Methods, systems, and equipment are described for a base station-initiated control mechanism to support a supplemental link. In some aspects, control information associated with a first radio directional access (RAT) technology for a user equipment (UE) may be identified at a first base station, the first base station being configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT and the control information associated with the first directional RAT can be transmitted to a second base station to forward the UE using the second RAT.

Description

Cross References

[0001] This patent application claims the priority of US Patent Application No. 14/676,059 by Ryu et al., entitled “Base Station Initiated Control Mechanism for Supporting Supplemental Link”, filed on April 1, 2015; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/052,261 by Ryu et al., entitled “Base Station Initiated Control Mechanism For Supporting Supplemental Link”, filed September 18, 2014; each of which is assigned to the transferee thereof.

DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to a base station-initiated control mechanism for supporting an additional link.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED TECHNIQUE

[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely employed to deliver various types of communication content like voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast and so on. These systems can be typical wireless communication systems or multiple access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (eg time, frequency, space and energy). Examples of such multiple access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency division (OFDMA).

[0004] By way of example, a wireless multiple access communication system may include a number of base stations, each simultaneously supporting communication to multiple communication devices otherwise known as user equipment (UEs). A base station can communicate with UEs on downlink channels (for example, for transmissions from a base station to a UE) and uplink channels (for example, for transmissions from a UE to a base station).

[0005] Various communication systems may use different frequency bands depending on the particular needs of the system. For example, a millimeter wave frequency band (which may be comprised between 20 and 300 GHz) can be used when a large concentration of UEs are relatively close to each other and/or when a relatively large amount of data is transferred from one base station to one or more UEs, or vice versa. However, millimeter-wavelength signals often experience high path losses and, as a result, directional beamforming techniques can be used for uplink (UL) and/or downlink (DL) transmissions between a base station and a UE using millimeter wavelength frequencies. Reliance on directional beams, however, can make millimeter wave communications less reliable and more resource intensive than other radio access technologies (RATs). For example, Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology may be more reliable and less resource intensive, but may have a lower overall throughput than a millimeter wave based RAT.

SUMMARY

[0006] The features described generally refer to one or more systems, methods, and/or equipment for a base station-initiated control mechanism to support a supplemental link. A first base station configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE) using a first directional radio access technology (RAT), such as a millimeter-wave based RAT, can identify the control information that needs to be transmitted to the UE related to the first directional RAT. The first base station, however, may find it undesirable or may be unable to send the control information to the UE using the first directional RAT. For example, if no direct connection between the first base station and the UE is established using the first RAT, the first base station may find it undesirable to perform a beam search and negotiate a connection with the UE in view of the relatively small amount of communication data. control to be sent to the UE. As other examples, the first base station may be overloaded with traffic to be served to other UEs, an obstacle may prevent sufficient beamforming between the first base station and the UE, and so on. The first base station may, however, be connected to a second base station configured to communicate with the UE using a second RAT, such as a long-term evolution based (LTE) RAT. Consequently, the first base station can transmit the control information to the second base station for the second base station to forward the control information to the UE using the second RAT. The second RAT may be more reliable, require less overhead to set up a connection, and so on. In this way, the capacity of the second base station and its connection to the UE can be used to support and supplement the operation of the first base station and the first directional RAT.

[0007] A method for wireless communication is thus described, with the method including identifying, at a first base station, control information associated with a first directional radio access technology (RAT) to a user equipment (UE), the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT; and transmitting the control information associated with the first directional RAT to a second base station for forwarding to the UE using a second RAT.

[0008] Also, equipment for wireless communication is described, with the equipment including means for identifying, in a first base station, control information associated with a first radio directional access (RAT) technology for a user equipment ( UE), the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT; and means for transmitting the control information associated with the first directional RAT to a second base station for forwarding to the UE using a second RAT.

[0009] Also, other equipment for wireless communication is described, with the equipment including a processor, a memory in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory, with the instructions being executable by the processor to identify, at a first station base, control information associated with a first directional radio access technology (RAT) for a user equipment (UE), the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT; and also for transmitting the control information associated with the first directional RAT to a second base station for forwarding to the UE using a second RAT.

[0010] Also, a non-transient computer readable medium for wireless communication in a wireless device is described, the non-transient computer readable medium storing computer executable code to identify, in a first base station, control information associated with a first directional radio access technology (RAT) for a user equipment (UE), the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT; and to transmit the control information associated with the first directional RAT to a second base station for forwarding to the UE using a second RAT.

[0011] In some examples of the method, equipment and/or computer-readable media, forwarding information may be included in the control information that instructs the second base station to forward the control information to the UE. Information forwarding can specify whether control information is to be transmitted by the second base station using a control channel or a data channel of the second RAT. Also, identification information may be included in the control information indicating to the UE that the control information originated from the first base station.

[0012] In some examples, control information may be transmitted from the first base station to the second base station via a backhaul link connecting the first base station and the second base station. A connection between the first base station to the second base station over the backhaul channel link and between the second base station and the UE can form a supplementary link between the first base station and the UE and/or the channel link return transport can be an X2 interface.

[0013] In some examples, control information may be transmitted from the first base station to the second base station in response to an insufficient direct connection between the first base station and the UE over the first directional RAT. Control information may not be able to be transmitted from the first base station to the UE using the first directional RAT due to insufficient direct connection in some cases. In several examples, the insufficient direct connection between the first base station and the UE may be due to a lack of data to be transmitted between the first base station and the UE over the first directional RAT, due to a failure of a transmission beam before the first base station, due to movement of the UE relative to the first base station, due to an inadequate transmission beam between the first base station and the UE, due to overload of the first base station, due to overload of the first directional RAT, some combination thereof, and so on.

[0014] In some examples, control information may be transmitted from the first base station to the second base station to conserve resources associated with the first directional RAT. In some examples, control information may be transmitted from the first base station to the second base station to conserve power at the first base station. Also, the response information can be received from the UE responding to the transmitted control information, the response information being first transmitted from the UE to the second base station using the second RAT and then sent from the second base station to the first base station via a return transport channel link. The control information may include one or more of beam search coordination instructions, beam search results, lease scheduling, a channel quality information (CQI) command, a keepalive message, channel change information, beam, an overload indication related to the first base station, or a combination thereof, and so on.

[0015] In some examples, the first directional RAT may be a millimeter wave RAT and the first base station may use beamforming to communicate with the UE via the millimeter wave RAT. The second RAT may be more reliable than the first directional RAT and may have a lower bandwidth capacity than the first directional RAT. The second RAT can be, for example, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAT.

[0016] Also, another method for wireless communications is thus described, with the method including receiving, in a user equipment (UE), control information associated with a first radio directional access (RAT) technology for a first station base, the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT, control information being received at the UE from a second base station, the second base station configured to communicate with the UE using a second RAT , and transmitting the response information to the second base station using the second RAT, the response information being forwarded to the first base station based, at least in part, on the received control information.

[0017] Also, other equipment for wireless communications is described, with the equipment including means for receiving, in a user equipment (UE), control information associated with a first radio directional access (RAT) technology for a first base station, the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT, control information being received at the UE from a second base station, the second base station configured to communicate with the UE using a second RAT, and means for transmitting the response information to the second base station using the second RAT, the response information being forwarded to the first base station based, at least in part, on the received control information.

[0018] Also, other equipment for wireless communications is described, with the equipment including a processor, a memory in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory, with the instructions being executable by the processor to receive, in an equipment of user (UE), control information associated with a first directional radio access technology (RAT) for a first base station, the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT, the control information being received at the UE from a second base station, the second base station configured to communicate with the UE using a second RAT, and to transmit the response information to the second base station using the second RAT, with the response information forwarded to the first base station based, at least in part, on the control information received.

[0019] Also, another non-transient computer readable medium for wireless communications in a wireless device is described, the non-transient computer readable medium storing computer executable code for receiving, in a user equipment (UE), information from control associated with a first directional radio access (RAT) technology to a first base station, the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT, control information being received at the UE from a second base station, the second base station configured to communicate with the UE using a second RAT, and to transmit the response information to the second base station using the second RAT, the response information being forwarded to the first base station based, at least in part, on the control information received.

[0020] In some examples of the method, equipment and/or computer-readable media, a task may be performed in response to received control information, the response information including results of the task performed. Also, the received control information may, in some examples, include forwarding information that instructs the UE to transmit the response information to the second base station for forwarding to the first base station via a backhaul link between the second base station and the first base station. Also the response information may include one or more of a channel quality indication (CQI) report, a keepalive message response, beam shift information, beam seek information, or a combination thereof, and so on. In some cases, control information may first be received at the second base station from the first base station and then sent to the UE from the second base station using the second RAT.

[0021] Also, another method for wireless communication is thus described, with the method including receiving, from a first base station, control information associated with a first directional radio access technology (RAT) to a user equipment (UE ), the first base station is configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT, and determine when to forward control information to the UE using a second RAT. Also, other equipment for wireless communication is described, the equipment including means for receiving, from a first base station, control information associated with a first directional radio access technology (RAT) to a user equipment (UE), the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT, and means for determining when to forward control information to the UE using a second RAT.

[0022] Also, other equipment for wireless communication is described, with the equipment including a processor, a memory in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory, with the instructions being executable by the processor to receive from a first base station , control information associated with a first directional radio access technology (RAT) for a user equipment (UE), the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT, and determining when to forward the communication information control to the UE using the second RAT.

[0023] Also, other equipment for wireless communication is described, with the equipment including a processor, a memory in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory, with the instructions being executable by the processor to receive, from a first base station, the control information associated with a first directional radio access technology (RAT) for a user equipment (UE), the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT and to determine when forwarding control information to the UE using a second RAT.

[0024] Also, another non-transient computer readable medium for wireless communication in a wireless device is described, the non-transient computer readable medium storing computer executable code for receiving from a first base station, control information associated with a first directional radio access technology (RAT) to a user equipment (UE), the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT, and to determine when to forward control information to the UE using a second RAT.

[0025] In some examples of method, equipment, and/or computer-readable media, control information may be selectively forwarded to the UE based, at least in part, on the determination, or a notification may be selectively transmitted to the first station basis when control information is not forwarded to the UE. Control information may be transmitted to the UE via a control channel or a data channel associated with the second RAT. In some examples, the response information may be received from the UE in response to the control information, and the response information may be forwarded to the first base station over a backhaul link.

[0026] The foregoing considerations have outlined the features and technical advantages of the examples in accordance with the disclosure fairly broadly, in order that the following detailed description may be better understood. Additional features and benefits will be described hereafter. The concept and specific examples disclosed can easily be used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures to accomplish the same purposes as the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The characteristics of the concepts described here, both their organization and method of operation, together with associated advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the attached figures. Each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only, and not as a definition of the limits of claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention can be realized by reference to the following drawings. In the attached figures, similar components or features may have the same reference label. Furthermore, multiple components of the same type can be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes between similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any of the similar components with the same first reference label regardless of the second reference label.

[0028] FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0029] FIG. 2 illustrates a diagram of a device configured for use in wireless communication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0030] FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram of a device configured for use in wireless communication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0031] FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram of a device configured for use in wireless communication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0032] FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of a device configured for use in wireless communication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0033] FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of equipment for use in wireless communication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0034] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of equipment for use in wireless communication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0035] FIG. 8 shows a diagram illustrating an example of operation of a wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0036] FIG. 9 shows a diagram illustrating an example of operation of a wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0037] FIG. 10 shows a diagram illustrating an example of operation of a wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0038] FIG. 11 shows a diagram illustrating an example of operation of a wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0039] FIG. 12 shows a diagram illustrating an example of operation of a wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0040] FIG. 13 shows a block diagram of a multiple input/multiple output communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

[0041] FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for wireless communication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0042] FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for wireless communication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure; It is

[0043] FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for wireless communication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] Characteristics generally related to a control mechanism initiated at the base station to support an additional link are revealed. As described in more detail below, a first base station may be configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE) using a first directional radio access (RAT) technology, such as a millimeter wave RAT. Other base stations can also be configured to communicate with the UE using the same or a different RAT. For example, a second base station can be configured to communicate with the UE using a second RAT, such as a Long Term Evolution based RAT (LTE). In some circumstances, the first base station may identify the control information that has to be transmitted to the UE, but may not be able to transmit the control information to the UE using the first RAT or may find it undesirable to transmit the control information. to the UE using the first RAT. Under these circumstances, the first base station may transmit the control information to the second base station over, for example, a backhaul link connecting the first and second base stations.

[0045] Upon receipt of the control information from the first base station, the second base station can forward the control information to the UE using the second RAT. In some cases, however, the second base station may not automatically transmit control information, but may determine whether or not to transmit control information to the UE based on one or more factors (e.g. traffic load). from the second base station, the number of forward control information requests from the first base station, etc.). If the second base station forwards the control information to the UE, the UE may, upon receiving the control information, perform one or more tasks based on the control information. Based on the received control information and/or the executed task(s), the UE may need to transmit response information to the first base station. However, as above, the UE may be unable or may find it undesirable to transmit the response information directly back to the first base station using the first directional RAT. Consequently, the UE can transmit the response information to the second base station for forwarding to the first base station over a backhaul link connecting the first and second base stations. In this way, the second base station and its associated second RAT can provide a supplementary link to support the transmission of control and response information indirectly between the first base station and the UE.

[0046] The following description provides examples and is not limiting the scope, applicability or examples presented in the claims. Changes may be made to the function and arrangement of the elements discussed without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Multiple examples can omit, replace, or add multiple procedures or components, as appropriate. For example, the methods described may be performed in a different order than described, and multiple steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described in relation to some examples may be combined in other examples.

[0047] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 100 in accordance with various aspects of the disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 includes base stations 105, UEs 115, and a core network 130. The core network 130 can provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other functions. access, routing, or mobility. Base stations 105 interface with core network 130 via backhaul channel links 132 (e.g., SI, etc.) and may perform radio configuration and programming for communication with UEs 115 or may operate under the control from a base station controller (not shown). In various examples, base stations 105 may communicate, either directly or indirectly (e.g., through core network 130), with each other over backhaul channel links 134 (e.g., X1, X2, etc. .), which can be wired or wireless communication links with relatively high throughput and/or low latency.

[0048] The base stations 105 can remotely communicate with the UEs 115 through one or more base station antennas. Each of the base station locations 105 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In some examples, the base stations 105 may be referred to as a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, eNodeB (eNB), Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or some other suitable terminology. The geographic coverage area 110 for a base station 105 can be divided into sectors that make up only a portion of the coverage area (not shown). The wireless communication system 100 may include base stations 105 of different types (e.g. macro and/or small cell base stations). There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 for different technologies. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a base station 105-a-1 may be configured to communicate with one or more UEs 115, 115-a using a directional RAT (such as a millimeter-wave based RAT), and another base station 105-a-2 may be configured to communicate with one or more UEs 115, 115-a using a different type of RAT (such as an LTE-based RAT).

[0049] In some examples, at least some components of the wireless communication system 100 are LTE/LTE based components. In LTE/LTE-A networks, the term Evolved Node B (eNB) can be used generally to describe the base stations 105, while the term UE can be used generally to describe the UEs 115. The wireless communication system 100 can be a Heterogeneous LTE/LTE-A network in which different types of eNB provide coverage for different geographic regions. For example, each eNB 105 can provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a small cell, and/or other types of cells. The term “cell” is a 3GPP term that can be used to describe a base station, a carrier or component carrier associated with a base station, or a coverage area (e.g., sector, etc.) of a carrier or base station, depending on the context.

[0050] A macro cell usually covers a relatively large geographic area (eg several kilometers in radius) and can allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with the network provider. A small cell is a low power base station compared to a macro cell which can operate in the same or different (eg licensed or unlicensed etc.) frequency bands as the macro cells. Small cells can include pico cells, femto cells and micro cells according to various examples. A pico cell can cover a relatively smaller geographic area and can allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with the network provider. A femto cell may also cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and, furthermore, may provide restricted access by UEs that have an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs for home users and the like). An eNB for a cell macro may be referred to as a macro eNB. An eNB for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell eNB, a pico eNB, a femto eNB, or a homemade eNB. An eNB can support one or several (eg two, three, four, and the like) cells (eg, component carriers).

[0051] The wireless communication system 100 can support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, base stations can have similar frame timing and transmissions from different base stations can be approximately time-aligned. For asynchronous operation, base stations may have different frame timing and transmissions from different base stations may not be time-aligned. The techniques described here can be used for either synchronous or asynchronous operations.

[0052] Communication networks that can accommodate some of the various examples disclosed may be packet-based networks that operate according to a layered protocol stack. At the user plane, communications at the carrier or Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer can be IP-based. A Radio Link Control (RLC) layer can perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate over logical channels. A Media Access Control (MAC) layer can perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer can also utilize Hybrid ARQ (HARQ) to provide retransmission at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. At the control plane, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol layer may provide for establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connection between a UE 115 and base stations 105 or core network 130 that support radio bearers for the user plan data. At the physical (PHY) layer, transport channels can be mapped to Physical channels.

[0053] The UEs 115 are dispersed throughout the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 can be stationary or mobile. A UE 115 may also include or be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device , a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, an apparatus, a user agent, a mobile client, a client , or some other appropriate terminology. A UE 115 can be a cell phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a tablet computer, a handheld computer, a cordless phone, a circuit station local wireless (WLL), or similar. A UE may be able to communicate with various types of base stations and network equipment including eNBs, small cell eNBs, relay base stations and the like.

[0054] The communication links 125 shown in the wireless communication system 100 may include uplink transmissions (UL) from a UE 115 to a base station 105 and/or downlink transmissions (DL) from a base station 105 to a UE 115. Downlink transmissions can also be called forward link transmissions while uplink transmissions can also be called reverse link transmissions. Each communication link 125 may include one or more carriers, where each carrier may be a signal made up of several sub-carriers (eg, waveform signals of different frequencies) modulated according to the various radio technologies described above. Each modulated signal can be sent on a different subcarrier and can carry control information (e.g., reference signals, control channels, etc.), overload information, user data, etc. Communication links 125 can carry bi-directional communications utilizing FDD (eg, using paired spectrum facilities) or TDD operation (eg, using unpaired spectrum facilities). Frame structures for FDD (eg frame structure type 1) and TDD (eg frame structure type 2) can be defined. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a first base station 105-a-1 may have, or may be configured to have, a first type of communication link 125-a-1 with a UE 115-a, which may be a communication link based on millimeter wave. Similarly, a second base station 105-a-2 may have, or may be configured to have, a second type of communication link 125-a-2 with a UE 115-a, which may be a communication link with based on LTE.

[0055] In some embodiments of system 100, base stations 105 and/or UEs 115 may include multiple antennas to employ antenna diversity schemes to improve the quality and reliability of communication between base stations 105 and UEs 115. Additionally or alternatively , base stations 105 and/or UEs 115 can employ multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) techniques that can take advantage of multipath environments to transmit multiple spatial layers that carry the same or different encoded data.

[0056] The wireless communication system 100 may support operation on multiple cells or carriers, a feature which may be referred to as carrier aggregation (CA) or multi-carrier operation. A carrier may also be referred to as a component (CC) carrier, a layer, a channel, etc. The terms "carrier", "component carrier", "cell" and "channel" may be used interchangeably herein. A UE 115 can be configured with multiple downlink CCs and one or more uplink CCs for carrier aggregation. Carrier aggregation can be used with both FDD and TDD component carriers.

[0057] Still referring to the wireless communication system 100 in FIG. 1, in some embodiments, the first base station 105-a-1 that is configured to communicate with the UE 115-a using a first directional RAT such as a millimeter-wave based RAT, may identify control information for the UE 115 -a - for example control information related to the first directional RAT and UE 115-a. Due to insufficient connection and/or a desire to conserve resources (e.g., frequency and time resources) and/or power at the first base station 105-a-1, the first base station 105-a-1 may transmit the control information for the second base station 105-a-2 for forwarding to the UE 115-a by the second base station 105-a-2. Second base station 105-a-2 may also be configured to communicate with UE 115-a, but may do so using a second RAT, such as an LTE-based RAT. The second RAT may be more reliable than the first directional RAT but may have a lower bandwidth capacity than the first directional RAT. For example, as described above, a millimeter-wave RAT can have a relatively large bandwidth capacity compared to an LTE-based RAT, but the LTE-based RAT can be reliable and more available over a larger geographic area.

[0058] A RAT based on millimeter waves can use beamforming to communicate with the UE 115-a (e.g. to reduce path loss, to reduce reflections, etc.), but the use of beams can make the link unreliable if, for example, UE 115-a moves. Furthermore, before a transmission link can be established, the base station 105-a-1 and the UE 115-a may need to look for an appropriate direction and/or beamwidth. In comparison, establishing and maintaining an LTE-based link may require less overhead.

[0059] The second base station 105-a-2 in FIG. 1 may receive the control information related to the UE 115-a from the first base station 105-a over the backhaul link 134-a (which may be, for example, an X2 interface) and may determine whether to forward the control information to UE 115-a. If the second base station 105-a-2 transmits the control information to the UE 115-a using the second RAT, the UE 115-a may, in turn, transmit response information to the second base station 105-a- 2 based, at least in part, on the received control information, for forwarding to the first base station 105-a-1. In this way, the control and response information is not transmitted over a direct link between the first base station 105-a-1 and the UE 115-a, but is instead transmitted over a supplementary link formed by the connection between the first and second base stations 105-a-1,105-a-2 (e.g. a backhaul link) together with the wireless connection between the second base station 105-a-2 and the UE 115 -a on the second RAT.

[0060] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram 200 of a device 205 for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Device 205 may be an example of one or more aspects of a UE 115, 115-a described above with reference to FIG. 1 and/or an example of one or more aspects of a base station 105, 105-a-1, 105-a-2 described above with reference to FIG. 1 and/or an example of one or more aspects of core network 130 described above with reference to FIG. 1. Device 205 may include a receiver module 210, a control information module 215, and/or a transmitter module 220. Device 205 may also include a processor (not shown). Each of these modules can be in communication with each other.

[0061] The components of the device 205 can, individually or collectively, be implemented using one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) adapted to perform some or all of the applicable functions in hardware. Alternatively, the functions may be performed by one or more other processing units (or cores) on one or more integrated circuits. In other examples, other types of integrated circuits (e.g. Structured/Platform ASICs, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and other Semi-Custom ICs) may be used, which may be programmed in any manner known in the art. The functions of each module can also be implemented, in whole or in part, with instructions incorporated in memory, formatted to be executed by one or more general purpose or application specific processors.

[0062] Receiver module 210 may receive information such as packets, user data and/or control information associated with various information channels (eg, control channels, data channels, etc.). If device 205 is a UE 115, receiver module 210 may be configured to remotely receive user data and control signaling from one or more base stations 105, 105-a-1, 105-a-2, which may use one or more different RATs to remotely communicate with the UE 115. If the device 205 is a base station 105, the receiver module can be configured to receive user data from the core network 130 in FIG. 1 to be forwarded to the respective UEs 115. Also, if the device is, more specifically, the first base station 105-a-1, the receiver module 210 can be configured to receive control information (e.g., as transmitted from from the core network 130 or as generated from another component of the first base station 105-a-1) related to a UE 115-a, such as beam search coordination instructions, scheduling grants, and so on. This receiver module 210 for the first base station 105-a-1 can also be configured to receive response information from the UE 115-a through the second base station 105-a-2. If, on the other hand, the device 205 is the second base station 105-a-2, the receiver module 210 can be configured to receive control information from the first base station 105-a-1 to be forwarded to the UE 115- a, and can also receive response information from UE 115-a to be forwarded to the first base station 105-a-1. Information received by receiver module 210 may be passed to control information module 215, and to other components of device 205.

[0063] The control information module 215 can be configured to identify, generate, actuate or otherwise process control information regarding a base station 105, 105-a-1, 105-a-2, a UE 115, 115-a and/or one or more RATs. For example, the control information may refer to the wireless communication between the UE 115-a and the first base station 105-a-1 in FIG. 1, and may include, for example, beam seek coordination instructions, beam seek results, lease scheduling, a channel quality indication (CQI) command, a keepalive message, beam change information , an overload indication, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the control information may be time or delay sensitive. Control information module 215 may also be configured to identify, generate, actuate or otherwise process response information in addition to control information, as described in greater detail below.

[0064] In these examples where the device 205 of FIG. 2 is a first base station 105-a-1 of FIG. 1 that is configured to communicate with a UE 115-a using a first directional RAT, the control information module 215 can be configured to identify, at the first base station 105-a-1, control information associated with the first directional RAT and UE 115-a, and to transmit (or initiate transmission through transmitter module 220) the control information to second base station 105-a-2 in FIG. 1 to forward to UE 115-a using a second RAT. In these examples where the device 205 of FIG. 2, and a second base station 105-a-2 of FIG. 1 that is configured to communicate with the UE 115-a using a second RAT, the control information module 215 may be configured to process control information with the first directional RAT for the UE as received from the base station 105 -a-1 of FIG. 1 to determine when to forward control information to UE 115-a using the second RAT. In these examples where the device 205 of FIG. 2, is UE 115-a of FIG. 1, the control information module 215 is configurable to process control information received from the first base station 105-a-1 through the second base station 105-a-2 so as to perform a task that responds to the received control information and/or transmit the response information to the second base station 105-a-2 for forwarding to the first base station 105-a-1.

[0065] The transmitter module 220 can transmit one or more signals received from other components of the device 205, including those generated within the device 205. For example, if the device 205 is a UE 115, the transmitter module 220 can be configured to transmitting response information to the second base station 105-a-2 to be forwarded to the first base station 105-a-1 based at least in part on the received control information. If device 205 is first base station 105-a-1, transmitter module 220 may be configured to transmit control information for UE 115-a to second base station 105-a-2 for forwarding to UE 115- a, while if the device 205 is the second base station 105-a-2, the transmitter module 220 can be configured to transmit control information received from the first base station 105-a-1 to the UE 115-a and also to transmit information response received from UE 115-a to the first base station 105-a-1. In some examples, transmitter module 220 may be collocated with receiver module 210 in a transceiver module.

[0066] FIG. 3 shows a block diagram 300 of a UE 115-b for use in remote communications, in accordance with various examples. UE 115-b may be an example of one or more aspects of device 205 described above with reference to FIG. 2 and/or an example of one or more aspects of UEs 115, 115-a described above with reference to FIG. 1. UE 115-b may include a receiver module 210-a, a control information module 215-a, and/or a transmitter module 220-a, which may be examples of corresponding modules of device 205 in FIG. 2. UE 115-b may also include a processor (not shown). Each of these components can be in communication with each other. The control information module 215-a may include a first RAT module 305, a second RAT module 310, a task module 315 and a response module 320. The receiver module 210-a and the transmitter module 220-a may perform the functions of receiver module 210 and transmitter module 220 of FIG. 2 respectively. UE 115-b in FIG. 3 can be configured to form wireless communication links with one or several different base stations using one or several different types of RATs.

[0067] As described above, the control information module 215-a of the UE 115-b can be configured to receive control information associated with a first directional RAT station, and a first base station (e.g., base station 105- a-1 in FIG. 1), wherein the first base station is configured to communicate with UE 115-b using the first directional RAT. The first directional RAT may be a millimeter wave based RAT in some modalities. Control information may, as described above, be received at UE 115-b from a second base station (e.g. base station 105-a-2 in FIG. 1) which is configured to communicate with UE 115 -b using a second RAT, such as an LTE-based RAT. In this example, control information may first be received at the second base station from the first base station and then sent to UE 115-b from the second base station using the second RAT. Control information module 215-a of UE 115-b in FIG. 3 can also be configured to transmit response information to the second base station using the second RAT and based, at least in part, on the received control information, such that the second base station can, in turn, forward the information response to the first base station.

[0068] The first RAT module 305 of the control information module 215-a in FIG. 3 can be configured to communicate with a first base station using a first directional RAT, such as a millimeter wave based RAT. The second RAT module 310 of the control information module 215-a in FIG. 3 can be configured to communicate with a second base station using a second RAT, such as an LTE-based RAT. The second RAT module 310 may thus be configured to receive control information from the second base station using the second RAT for use in the control information module 215-a. In some embodiments, the received control information may include forwarding information instructing the UE 115-b to transmit the response information to the second base station using the second RAT (instead of the first base station using the first directional RAT) for forwarding to the first base station over a backhaul link between the second base station and the first base station.

[0069] Task module 315 of control information module 215-a in FIG. 3 can be configured to perform one or more tasks responsive to received control information and can also optionally be configured to provide results of the one or more tasks performed to the response module 320.

[0070] The response module 320 of the control information module 215-a in FIG. 3 may be configured to generate response information to be transmitted to the second base station for forwarding to the first base station based, at least in part, on control information received, one or more tasks performed by the task module 315, the results of one or more tasks provided by task module 315, or some combination thereof. In various embodiments, the response information may include one or more of a channel quality indication (CQI) report, a keepalive message response, beam shift information, beam seek information, or a combination of the same. Response module 320 may also be configured to provide an indication in the response information indicating that the response information is to be forwarded to the first base station so that the second base station understands and can forward the response information to the first base station. base station.

[0071] FIG. 4 shows a block diagram 400 of a base station 105-b for use in remote communications, in accordance with various examples. Base station 105b may be an example of one or more aspects of device 205 described above with reference to FIG. 2 and/or an example of one or more aspects of base stations 105, 105-a-1 described above with reference to FIG. 1. In some embodiments, base station 105-b is configured to communicate with one or more UEs (e.g., UE 115, UE 115-a, UE 115-b) using a first directional RAT, such as a millimeter wave. Base station 105-b may include a receiver module 210-b, a control information module 215-b, and/or a transmitter module 220-b, which may be examples of corresponding modules of device 205 in FIG. 2. Base station 105-b may also include a processor (not shown). Each of these components can be in communication with each other. The control information module 215-b may include a direct connect module 405, a resource conservation module 410, an energy conservation module 415 and a supplemental information module 420. The receiver module 210-b and the transmitter module 220 -b can perform the functions of receiver module 210 and transmitter module 220 of FIG. 2 respectively.

[0072] As described above, the control information module 215-b of the base station 105-b can be configured to receive control information associated with a first directional RAT station for a UE and can also be configured to transmit the control information control to another base station (e.g., base station 105-a-2 in FIG. 1, base station 105-c in FIG. 5, etc.) to forward to a UE using a second RAT. In some embodiments, control information may be transmitted from the base station 105-b to the other base station over a backhaul link connecting the two base stations (e.g., an X2 interface). The connection between the base station 105-b and the other base station over the backhaul link with a wireless connection between the other base station and a UE via a second RAT can form a supplementary link between the base station 105- b and UE, which can be used to transmit and receive control and response information even in those cases where there is insufficient directional connection between the base station 105-b and the UE using the first directional RAT.

[0073] The direct connection module 405 of the control information module 215-b in FIG. 4 can be configured to monitor one or more direct connections (or lack thereof) between base station 105-b and one or more UEs. If a forward connection is sufficiently established between the base station 105-b and a given UE, the forward connection module 405 can cause the base station 105-b to transmit control information to the UE using that forward connection. If, however, there is an insufficient direct connection between the base station 105-b and the UE over the first directional RAT of the base station 105-b (including no direct connection, a weak forward connection, etc.), the control information may not be capable of being transmitted from the base station 105-b to the UE using the first directional RAT. In this case, the direct connect module 405 can have the base station 105-b transmit the control information from the base station 105-b to another base station for forwarding to the UE using another RAT.

[0074] There are several different situations in which there may be an insufficient connection between the base station 105-b and a specific UE. For example, if there is a lack of data to be transmitted between the base station 105-b and the UE, then no forward beam connection can be established between the base station 105-b and the UE. In this situation, although there is no user data to exchange between the base station 105-b and the UE, the base station 105-b may still need to transmit control information to the UE and possibly receive response data back from the UE. As mentioned above, there can be a relatively large amount of overhead (e.g. time and frequency and power resources required to conduct a beam search) before a direct beam connection can be established given what can be a large amount relatively small amount of control data. As such, in this case, the direct connect module 405 can arrange for the control information to be transmitted to the UE over a supplemental link through another base station to conserve resources and/or power at the base station 105-b.

[0075] Another example of an insufficient forward connection can be caused by a failure of a previous forward transmission beam between base station 105-b and a UE. A forward direct transmit beam can fail if the UE moves behind an obstacle, moves relative to a reflective object that was reflecting the beam, goes inside, and so on. Another example of insufficient forward connection can be caused by an inadequate transmission beam between the base station 105-b and the UE - for example if there is a transmission beam, but its signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is relatively low. Still other examples of insufficient forward connections can be caused by overloading the base station 105-b and/or overloading the first directional RAT. In these examples, direct connect module 405 may cause control information to be transmitted to the UE over a supplemental link through another base station and its associated RAT.

[0076] The resource conservation module 410 of the control information module 215-b in FIG. 4 can be configured to determine what resources (eg frequency resources, time resources, space resources, etc.) associated with the first directional RAT and base station 105-b would be required to establish and/or maintain a sufficient direct connection between the base station 105-b and the UE in order to transmit the control information to the UE. Resource conservation module 410 may also be configured to determine whether these resources are to be consumed or conserved. If it is determined that resources must be conserved, then resource conservation module 410 may cause the control information to be transmitted to another base station for forwarding to the UE over an additional link using the second RAT. On the other hand, if it is determined that resources are to be consumed, resource conservation module 410 can cause the forward connection to be configured and control information can then be transmitted to the UE over the forward connection.

[0077] The energy conservation module 415 of the control information module 215-b in FIG. 4 can be configured to determine how much power (e.g., either to the base station 105-b or the UE, or both) would be required to establish and/or maintain a sufficient direct connection between the base station 105-b and the UE so to transmit the control information to the UE. The energy conservation module 415 can also be configured to determine that energy is to be consumed or conserved. If it is determined that power must be conserved, then power conservation module 415 may cause the control information to be transmitted to another base station for forwarding to the UE over a supplementary link using the second RAT. On the other hand, if it is determined that power must be consumed, the power conservation module 415 can cause the direct connection to be configured and control information can then be transmitted to the UE via the direct connection.

[0078] Supplementary information module 420 of control information module 215-b in FIG. 4 may be configured to include supplemental information in the control information intended for a UE in case it is determined (e.g., by the direct connection module 405, by the resource conservation module 410, by the energy conservation module 415 or by some combination of these) transmit the control information to another base station for forwarding to the UE using a different RAT. For example, supplementary information module 420 may include routing information in the control information instructing the other base station (to which the control information is transmitted by base station 105-b) to forward the control information to the appropriate UE. , in some cases, whether the control information should be transmitted to the UE using a control channel or a data channel of a RAT associated with the base station to which the control information is sent. The supplementary information module may also include the identification information in the control information indicating to the UE that the control information originated from the base station 105-b.

[0079] FIG. 5 shows a block diagram 500 of a base station 105-c for use in remote communications, in accordance with various examples. Base station 105-c may be an example of one or more aspects of device 205 described above with reference to FIG. 2 and/or an example of one or more aspects of base stations 105, 105-a-2 described above with reference to FIG. 1. In some embodiments, base station 105-c is configured to communicate with one or more UEs using a second RAT, such as an LTE-based RAT. Base station 105-c may include a receiver module 210-c, a control information module 215-c, and/or a transmitter module 220-c, which may be examples of corresponding modules of device 205 in FIG. 2. Device 105-c may also include a processor (not shown). Each of these components can be in communication with each other. The control information module 215-c may include a determination module 505, a forwarding module 510 and/or a notify module 515. The receiver module 210-c and the transmitter module 220-c may perform the functions of the receiver module 210 and transmitter module 220 of FIG. 2 respectively.

[0080] As described above, the control information module 215-c of the base station 105-c can be configured to receive, from another base station (for example, base station 105-b in FIG. 4, base station 105-a-1 in FIG. 1, etc.) the control information associated with a first directional RAT for a UE, wherein the other base station is configured to communicate with the UE using a first directional RAT and the base station 105-c is configured to communicate with the UE using a second RAT. Control information module 215-c of base station 105-c in FIG. 5 can also be configured to determine when to forward control information to the UE using the second RAT.

[0081] The determination module 505 of the control information module 215-c in FIG. 5 can be configured to determine whether to forward control information received from another base station to a UE based on one or more factors. For example, if the number of forwarding requests for control information from other base stations is relatively high and/or the base station 105-c is relatively busy (e.g., few or no reservation resources are available to transmit the control information), the determining module 505 can determine not to forward the control information to the UE. As another example, if base station 105-c has a relatively large amount of frequency and/or time resources available, or if the other base station pays a premium for transmitting control information, determination module 505 may determine forward the control information to the UE.

[0082] The forwarding module 510 of the control information module 215-c in FIG. 5 can be configured to selectively forward the control information to the UE based, at least in part, on the determination by the determination module 505. To forward the control information to the UE, the forwarding module can manipulate the control information , such as removing headers, metadata, etc. associated with the forwarding instructions used by the base station 105-c to know to which UE the control information should be forwarded or adding additional headers, metadata, etc. to the control information which indicates to the UE the source from which the base station 105-c received the control information.

[0083] In addition to selectively forwarding the control information received from another base station to a UE, the forwarding module 510 can also be configured to (selectively) forward the response information received from a UE to the other base station via a return transport channel link. Response information may be sensitive to control information in some modalities, but in other modalities, it may not be sensitive to control information.

[0084] Notification module 515 of control information module 215-c in FIG. 5 can be configured to selectively transmit a notification to another base station when control information is not forwarded to the intended UE. For example, if the base station 105-c is relatively busy and, as a result, will not transmit control information received from another base station to a UE, the notify module 515 can transmit the notification to the other base station, optionally including a reason to refuse to forward the control information.

[0085] FIG. 6 shows a block diagram 600 of equipment for use in remote communications, in accordance with various examples. The equipment shown in FIG. 6 is a UE 115-c, which may be an example of one or more aspects of UEs 115, 115-a of FIG. 1. UE 115-c may also be an example of one or more aspects of device 205 in FIG. 2 and/or UE 115-b in FIG. 3. UE 115-c acts as a receiver when it receives DL transmissions from a base station and acts as a transmitter when it sends UL transmissions to the base station.

[0086] The UE 115-c may generally include components for two-way voice and data communications including components for transmitting communications and components for receiving communications. UE 115-c may include one or more antenna(s) from UE 640, a transceiver module from UE 635, a processor module from UE 605, and memory from UE 615 (including software (SW) 620), which can each be communicate, directly or indirectly, with each other (eg, via one or more 645 buses). The transceiver module of the UE 635 may be configured to communicate bi-directionally, through the antenna(s) of the UE 640 and/or one or more wired or wireless links, with one or more networks, as described above. For example, the transceiver module of UE 635 can be configured to communicate bi-directionally with one or more base stations using different RATs. The transceiver module of UE 635 may include a modem configured to modulate packets and deliver the modulated packets to the antenna(s) of UE 640 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from antenna(s) of UE 640. UE 115-c may include a single antenna 640, in some embodiments, in other embodiments, UE 115-c may also include multiple antennas 640 capable of simultaneously transmitting and/or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver module of UE 635 may be capable of communicating simultaneously with one or more base stations over multiple component carriers.

[0087] The UE 115-c may include a control information module 215-c, which may perform the functions described above and be an example of one or more aspects of the control information modules 215, 215-a in FIGs. 2-3. UE 115-c also includes a task module 315-a, which can perform the functions described above for task module 315 in FIG. 3. Also, UE 115-c includes a response module 320-a, which can perform the functions described above for response module 320 in FIG. 3.

[0088] The memory of the UE 615 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). UE memory 615 may store computer-readable, computer-executable software/firmware code 620 containing instructions that are configured to, when executed, cause processor module 605 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the computer-readable, computer-executable software/firmware code 620 may not be directly executable by the UE processor module 605, but be configured to cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform the functions herein. described. The processor module of UE 605 may include an intelligent hardware device, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc.

[0089] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram 700 of a base station 105-d-1 for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, base station 105-d-1 may be an example of aspects of one or more of base stations 105, 105-a-1, 105-b described above, and/or aspects of device 205 when configured as a base station, as described above with respect to FIGs. 1-2 and 3.

[0090] The base station 105-d-1 may include a base station processor module 710, a base station memory module 720, at least one base station transceiver module (represented by the base station transceiver module(s) 750 ), and at least one base station antenna (represented by base station antenna(s) 755). Base station 105-a may also include one or more of a base station communication module 730 and/or a network communications module 740. Each of these modules may be in communication with each other directly or indirectly over one or more 735 buses.

[0091] The base station memory module 720 may include random access memory (RAM) and/or read-only memory (ROM). Base station memory module 720 may store computer-readable, computer-executable software/firmware code 725 containing instructions that are configured to, when executed, cause base station processor module 710 to perform various functions described herein relating to wireless communication. Alternatively, the computer-readable, computer-executable software/firmware code 725 may not be directly executable by the base station processor module 710, but be configured to cause the base station 705 (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform many of the functions described here.

[0092] The base station processor module 710 may include an intelligent hardware device, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an ASIC, etc. Base station processor module 710 may process information received via module(s) 750, base station communications module 730, and/or network communications module 740. Base station processor module 710 also may process information to be sent to transceiver module(s) 750 for transmission via antenna(s) 755, to base station communication module 730, for transmission to one or more other base stations 105-d- 2 (described below), and/or to network communications module 740 for transmission to a core network 745, which may be an example of one or more aspects of core network 130 described with reference to FIG. 1. The base station processor module 710 can handle various aspects of wireless communications as described herein.

[0093] The base station transceiver module(s) 750 may include a modem configured to modulate packets and deliver the modulated packets to the base station antenna(s) 755 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the antenna. s) of base station 755. Base station transceiver module(s) 750 may, in some examples, be implemented as one or more base station transmitter modules and one or more separate base station receiver modules. The base station transceiver module(s) may support communications in a first radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., in the millimeter wave frequency spectrum band using a first Directional RAT and/or a second band of radio frequency spectrum. The transceiver module(s) of the base station(s) 750 may be configured to communicate bi-directionally, via the antenna(s) ) 755, with one or more UEs or equipment described herein. The base station 105-a-1 can communicate with the core network 745 through the network communication module 740. The base station 105-a can communicate with the network core 745 through network communications module 740. Base station 105-d-1 may also communicate with other base stations, such as base stations 105-d-2, using base station communications module 730 over, by example, a backhaul link and/or via a link through core network 745. As described above, base station 105-d-1 may initiate a supplemental link to transmit control information to a UE via from transmitting the control information first to another base station 105-d-2 for forwarding to the UE by the other base station via a RAT as described above. The other base station 105-d-2 may include modules similar to the first base station 105-d-1 in FIG. 7, but instead of including a direct connection module or supplemental information module, the other base station 105-d-2 may include a forwarding module 510-a, which may be an example of one or more aspects of the routing module. routing 510 in FIG 5.

[0094] FIG. 8 is an illustration 800 of a wireless communication system in which a first base station 105-e-1 can have an insufficient direct connection to a UE 115-d using a first directional RAT, but can nevertheless possess control information that has to be sent to UE 115-d. As a result, the first base station 105-e-1 can transmit control information intended for the UE 115-d to a second base station 105-e-2 over the backhaul link 134b for forwarding to the UE 115 -d using a second RAT, as illustrated by communication 805 in FIG. 8. By transmitting the control information to the second base station 105-e-2, the first base station 105-e-1 can add supplementary information so that the second base station 105-e-2 can recognize and act appropriately on the control information and/or for the UE to recognize that the control information is not related to a wireless connection between the UE and the second base station 105-a-2, but is instead related to a directional RAT and the first base station 105-a-1. Supplementary information can be in the form of metadata, additional address fields in the stream, and so on. In some cases, the transmission of control data from the first base station 105-e-1 to the second base station 105-e-2 may be in a newly defined data element, or may be in existing data element formats with or without new parameters.

[0095] Upon receipt of the control information, the second base station 105-e-2 can recognize that the control information has to be relayed to the UE 115-d and can determine whether to forward the received control information to the UE 115-d. If the second base station 105-e-2 determines not to forward the control information, then the second base station 105-e-2 may send a notification back to the first base station 105-e-1 over the channel link. return transport 134-b informing the first base station 105-e-1 that the control information has not been forwarded. If, on the other hand, the second base station 105-e-2 decides to send the control information to the UE 115-d, it can do so using a second different RAT, with the control information forwarded to the UE 115- d illustrated in FIG. 8 over communication 810. Second base station 105 may, for example, use an LTE-based RAT to transmit the received control information to UE 115-d and may use one or both of a downlink or downlink data channel from the LTE-based RAT. in LTE for transmission of control information.

[0096] Upon receiving the control information from the second base station 105-e-2, the UE 115-d can perform tasks related to the control information, such as collecting channel quality information relating to the first base station 105- e-1 and its associated RAT and send response information, such as a channel quality report, back to the first base station 105-e-1. The UE 115-d may, however, first send the response information to the second base station 105-e-2 because, for example, the lack of a sufficient direct wireless connection between the first base station 105-e-1 and UE 115-d, as illustrated by communication 815 in FIG. 8. The response information may be transmitted using the LTE-based RAT associated with the second base station 105-e-2 and may be transmitted via one or both of an uplink or uplink control channel of the LTE-based RAT. Upon receiving the response information from the UE 115-d, the second base station 105-e-2 may forward the response information to the first base station 105-e-1 over the return transport channel link 134-b, as illustrated by communication 820 in FIG. 8.

[0097] FIG. 8 has been described with reference to the second base station 105-e-2 determining whether control information should be sent to the UE 115-d, in some embodiments, the core network (not illustrated in FIG. 8) may determine when the second base station 105-e-2 will or will not transmit the control information. For example, the core network may consider the control information to be forwarded as having a higher priority than other data to be transmitted by the second base station 105-e-2. In this manner, and more generally, any of the base stations 105-e-1, 105-e-2, UE 115-d, and/or the core network can individually or collectively determine whether it intends to forward control information, including when It is like.

[0098] FIGs. 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 illustrate various situations in which the system of FIG. 8, and the components illustrated in FIGs. 2-7 can be used, for example, to facilitate the transmission of control information relating to a base station, a UE and a RAT using a second base station and a second RAT to transmit the control information to the UE. In each of these scenarios, there may be some reason why the first base station is unable or unwilling to transmit control information directly to the UE using the first directional RAT. As a result, the first base station can transmit control information destined for the UE to a second base station for forwarding to the UE using the second RAT. Note, however, that FIGs. 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 are not exhaustive and other examples are possible, including, for example, when a beam search is in progress but not yet finished, or when a UE connects or recently requests a connection with the first station base.

[0099] Referring first to example 900 illustrated in FIG. 9, the UE 115-e may be in an idle mode with no data to be transmitted to the first base station 105-f-1 and no data to be received from the first base station 105-f-2 using the first directional RAT. However, the first base station 105-f-2 may need channel quality indication (CQI) information related to the UE 115-e from time to time - for example, as certain beam search sequences 930 (corresponding to sequences 935) are perceived at UE 115-e.

[0100] However, to establish a wireless connection between the first base station 105-f-1 and the UE 115-e, there is typically a relatively large amount of processing overhead that can consume resources (frequency, time, etc. ) and energy - for example, in conducting beam tracing, a large amount of resources and energy can be consumed. While the consumption of these resources can be justified if a relatively large amount of data needs to be transmitted from the first base station 105-f-1 to the UE 115-e, the relatively small amount of control data in FIG. 9 may not need to establish and track a reliable beam between the first base station 105-f-1 and the UE 115-e. Accordingly, the first base station 105-f-1 may transmit control information, such as a CQI command, to the second base station 105-f-2 over the return transport channel link 134-c, along with a forwarding request and/or information identifying the control information and the intended recipient of the control information (i.e. UE 115-e), as indicated by communication 905. Upon receiving the control information, the second base station 105 -f-2 can determine whether or not to forward the control information to UE 115-e. If the second base station 105-f-2 determines not to forward the control information, the second base station 105-f-2 may transmit a notification to the first base station 105-f-1 so that the first base station 105-f-1 knows that control information was not forwarded as requested. If, on the other hand, the second base station determines to forward the control information, it will do so using a second RAT, as indicated by communication 910 in FIG. 9. Control information can be sent from the second base station 105-f-2 to the UE 115-e via a physical downlink shared channel, a physical downlink control channel, a combination thereof, and so on. In some embodiments, the initial communication 905 from the first base station 105-f-1 may indicate, or at least suggest, how control information is to be communicated to the UE 115-f, while in other embodiments the second base station 105 -f- 2 can determine how to transmit the control information to the UE 115-f alone or in conjunction with another entity such as the core network.

[0101] The UE 115-e can, in some cases, respond to the control information, for example, performing some action requested in the control information. For example, the UE 115-e can generate a CQI measurement report. If there is still no direct connection with the first base station 105-f-1, however, the UE 115-e may alternatively send the response information as the CQI measurement report to the second base station 105-f-2 for forwarding to the first base station 105-f-1 using the return transport channel link 134-c. Transmission of response information from UE 115-e to second base station 105-f-2 is shown by communication 915 in FIG. 9, and transmission of response information from second base station 105-f-2 to first base station 105-f-1 is shown over communication 920 in FIG. 9.

[0102] Referring now to example 1000 illustrated in FIG. 10, the first base station 105-g-1 may wish to maintain a contextual connection with the UE 115-f without incurring the resource and power consumption required by beam searching and beam scanning. This may particularly be the case where the UE 115-f is highly dynamic (e.g. moving) but does not have data to transmit or receive with the first base station 105-g-using its directional RAT. In this case, the first base station 105-g-1 may use the return transport channel link 134-d and the second base station 105-g-2 to relay control and response information including periodic control messages and responses (e.g. , keep messages alive and keep replies alive) between the UE 115-f and the first base station 105-g-1. Accordingly, the first base station 105-g-1 can request a control relay channel through the second base station 105-g-2 to send periodic control messages and receive periodic control responses using a RAT associated with the second base station 105 -g-2 of the directional RAT associated with the first base station 105-g-1. The initial request for the second base station to initiate the retransmission channel is shown by communication 1005 in FIG. 10. Second base station 105-g-2 then configures the relay channel using its RAT to send periodic control messages to UE 115-f, the first of which is shown in communication 1010 in FIG. 10 . UE 115-f may respond to periodic control messages by sending periodic response messages to second base station 105-g-2, shown by communication 1015 in FIG. 10.

[0103] During operation, the UE 115-f can move, as illustrated by the bold arrow in FIG. 10. After the UE 115-f moves, due to the reliability and robustness of the RAT associated with the second base station 105-g-2, the second base station 105-g-2 and the UE 115-f can continue to exchange information control and response messages, such as periodic control messages and responses using the RAT associated with second base station 105-g-2, as illustrated by communications 1025, 1030, 1035, 1040 in FIG. 10. In this way, the first base station 105-g-1 can continue (via the supplementary link formed by the backhaul link 134-d and the second base station 105-g-2 and its associated RAT) send information to the UE 115-f and receive response information back from the UE 115-f without the cost of tracking a beam between the first base station 105-g-1 and the UE 115-f.

[0104] With further reference to FIG. 10, in some embodiments, a trigger can be defined to send the periodic control messages and/or responses. For example, the first or second base station 105-g-1, 105-g-2 may define a periodic control message frequency based on needs, observed system characteristics (e.g., how much and how often the UE 115 -f shifts) and so on. In other embodiments, the UE 115-f may additionally or alternatively trigger the transmission of periodic control messages and/or responses (e.g., if the UE 115-f knows that it is being moved a lot or anticipates need for transmission of impending data, etc.). In yet other embodiments, the core network (not illustrated in FIG. 10) can determine how often periodic control messages are exchanged.

[0105] Referring now to example 1100 illustrated in FIG. 11, the UE 115-g can again be highly dynamic and moving (as indicated by the bold arrow), which can cause a previously established connection (e.g., through beamforming) to fail due to an obstacle 1125 In this case, the first base station 105-h-1 can transmit control information to the second base station 105-h-2 for forwarding to the UE 115-g in order to re-establish the connection. For example, the first base station 105-h-1 may transmit control information to the second base station 105-h-2 over the return transport channel link 134-e, with the control information including an alert message and a command for UE 115-g to find another beam and to switch to it, as shown by communication 1105 in FIG. 11. Second base station 105-h-2 can then forward this control information to UE 115-g, as shown by communication 1110 in FIG. 11. Upon receipt of the control information, the UE 115-g can search and switch to a new beam - for example and as illustrated in FIG. 11, the UE 115-g may encounter a beam that is reflected from a reflector 1130, and may switch to that beam. The UE 115-g accordingly sends response information, such as a beam change message, to the second base station 105-h-2 for forwarding to the first base station 105-h-1, as shown by communication 1115 in FIG. . 11. The second base station 105-h-2 may then forward the response information to the first base station, as shown by communication 1120 in FIG. 11. In some embodiments, communications 1105, 1110, 1115, 1120 may be repeated several times, forming a kind of feedback loop between UE 115-g and first base station 105-h-1.

[0106] Referring now to example 1200 illustrated in FIG. 12, first base station 105-i-1 may not have a proper transmit beam with UE 115-h despite the use of beam search sequences 1230, 1235 illustrated in FIG. 12. Accordingly, the first base station 105-i-1 may transmit control information including an additional beamforming formation request to the UE 115-h via the second base station 105-i-2. An additional beamforming request may include longer code lengths, different modulations, etc. seeking to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the wireless connection between the first base station 105-i-1 and the UE 115-h. As illustrated in FIG. 12, after the first base station 105-i-1 transmits the control information to the second base station 105-i-2 (shown by communication 1205) over the return transport channel link 134-f and the second base station 105- i- 2 forward the control information to the UE 115-h (shown by the communication 1210), the UE 115-h may use additional or alternative beam search sequences 1240 to try to establish a better transmit beam with the first base station 105-i-1. UE 115-h may also send response information to second base station 105-i-2 (shown by communication 1215) for forwarding to the first base station (shown by communication 1220). The response information may include a confirmation that the UE 115-h will use different lengths of beam search sequences in the next available beam search cycle, for example, so that the first base station 105-i-1 can adjust your own beam search settings for the next available fixture search cycle.

[0107] Referring now to example 1300 illustrated in FIG. 13, the first base station 105-j-1 may be overloaded - for example, the first base station 105-j-1 may have too many connections or may have too many pending data transmission requests. Accordingly, the first base station 105-j-1 can transmit control information including an overload indication and a request to transfer one or more UEs 115-i (e.g. to a third base station 105-j-3) to the second base station 105-j-2 over the backhaul link 134-g, as shown by communication 1305 in FIG. 13. The second base station 105-j-2 may forward the control information to the UE 115-i so that the UE 115-i can search for a different base station, as shown by communication 1310 in FIG. 13. Once the UE 115-i finds the third base station 105-j-3, the UE 115-i can send response information indicating the same to the second base station 105-j-2, shown by the communication 1315 in the FIG. 13. The second base station 105-j-2 can, in turn, transmit a handover confirmation to the first base station 105-j-1 and/or to the third base station 105-j-3, shown by the respective communications 1320, 1325 in FIG. 13.

[0108] As mentioned earlier, the examples given in FIGS. 8 to 13 are not exhaustive, and it will be appreciated that aspects of several examples may be combined, or other examples may equally utilize the methods, apparatus, and systems described herein.

[0109] FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method 1400 for wireless communication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. For clarity, method 1400 is described below with reference to aspects of one or more base stations 105-a-1, 105-b, 105-d-1, 105-e-1, 105-f-1, 105 -g-1, 105-h-1, 115-i-1, 105-h-j described above with reference to FIGs. 1, 4 and 7-13. In some examples, one of these base stations may execute one or more sets of code to control one or more of the functional elements to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, a base station may perform one or more of the functions described below using general purpose hardware.

[0110] In block 1405, method 1400 may include identifying, at the first base station, control information associated with a first directional radio access technology (RAT) for a user equipment (UE), the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT. At block 1410, method 1400 may include transmitting the control information associated with the first directional RAT to a second base station for forwarding to the UE using a second RAT.

[0111] The operation(s) in blocks 1405 and 1410 can be performed using the control information module with respect to FIG. 4 in some modes.

[0112] Thus, method 1400 can provide wireless communication. It should be noted that method 1400 is only one implementation, and that the operations of method 1400 may be rearranged or otherwise modified such that other implementations are possible.

[0113] FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 1500 for wireless communication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. For clarity, method 1500 is described below with reference to aspects of one or more UEs 115, 115-a, 115b, 115-c, 115-d, 115-e, 115-f, 115-g, 115- h, 115-i described with reference to FIGs. 1, 3, 6 and 8-13. In some examples, one of these UEs can execute one or more sets of codes to control one or more of the functional elements to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, a UE may perform one or more of the functions described below using general purpose hardware.

[0114] In block 1505, method 1500 may include receiving, at the user equipment (UE), control information associated with a first directional radio access (RAT) technology for a first base station, the first base station being configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT, control information being received at the UE from a second base station, the second base station configured to communicate with the UE using a second RAT. At block 1510, method 1500 may include transmitting the response information to the second base station using the second RAT, with the response information forwarded to the first base station based, at least in part, on the received control information.

[0115] The operation(s) at block 1450 may be performed using the control information module 215-a described above with respect to FIG. 3 in some modes.

[0116] Thus, method 1500 can provide wireless communication. It should be noted that method 1500 is only one implementation, and that the operations of method 1500 can be rearranged or otherwise modified such that other implementations are possible.

[0117] FIG. 16 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 1600 for wireless communication in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. For clarity, method 1600 is described below with reference to aspects of one or more second base stations 105-a-2, 105-c, 105-d-2, 105-e-2, 105-f-2, 105-g-2, 105-h-2, 115-i-2, 105-j-2 described above with reference to FIGs. 1, 5 and 7-13. In some examples, one of these base stations may execute one or more sets of code to control one or more of the functional elements to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, a base station may perform one or more of the functions described below using general purpose hardware.

[0118] In block 1605, method 1600 may include receiving from a first base station, control information associated with a first directional radio access technology (RAT) for a user equipment (UE), the first base station configured to communicate with the UE using the first directional RAT. In block 1610, method 1600 may include determining when to forward the control information to the UE using a second RAT.

[0119] The operation(s) at block 1650 may be performed using the control information module 215-c described above with respect to FIG. 5 in some modes.

[0120] Thus, method 1600 can provide wireless communication. It should be noted that method 1600 is only one implementation, and that the operations of method 1600 can be rearranged or otherwise modified such that other implementations are possible.

[0121] In some examples, aspects of two or more of methods 1400, 1500, and 1600 may be combined. It should be noted that methods 1400, 1500 and 1600 are exemplary implementations only, and that the operations of methods 1400, 1500 and 1600 can be rearranged or otherwise modified such that other implementations are possible.

[0122] The techniques described here can be used for various wireless communication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA system can implement a radio technology such as CDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc. CDMA2000 covers the IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 Versions 0 and A are commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1X, 1X, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includes Broadband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. A TDMA system can implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA system can implement a radio technology such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM™, etc. . UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). Long Term Evolution of 3GPP (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are new versions of UMTS using E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization called the “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization called “Partnership Project for 3rd Generation 2” (3GPP2). The techniques described herein can be used for the above-mentioned radio systems and technologies as well as other radio systems and technologies, including cellular communications (eg, LTE) over unlicensed and/or shared bandwidth. The above description, however, describes an LTE/LTE-A system for example purposes, and LTE terminology is used throughout much of the above description, although the techniques are applicable beyond LTE/LTE-A applications.

[0123] The detailed description presented above in connection with the attached drawings describes examples and do not represent the only examples that can be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The terms "example" and "exemplary" when used in this specification mean "to serve as an example, case, or illustration," not "preferred" or "advantageous over other examples." The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. These techniques, however, can be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and equipment are shown in block diagram form, in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the examples described.

[0124] Information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0125] The various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the present disclosure can be implemented or executed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device (PLD) , discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or conventional state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors together with a DSP core, or any other type of configuration.

[0126] The functions described here can be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, functions may be stored in or transmitted via one or more instructions or code on computer-readable media. Other examples and implementations are within the scope and spirit of the accompanying disclosure and claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring or combinations thereof. Resources that implement the functions can also be physically located in various locations, including being distributed so that portions of the functions are implemented in different physical locations. As used herein, including in the claims, the term "and/or", when used in a list of two or more articles, means that any one of the items mentioned may be used alone, or any combination of two or more of the items mentioned may be employed. For example, if a composition is described as containing components A, B and/or C, the composition may only contain A; under; only C; A and B in combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B, and C in combination. Also, as used herein, including in claims, "or", as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items preceded by a phrase such as "at least one of or "one or more of") indicates a list disjunctive such that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C" means A or B or C or AB or AC or AC or ABC (that is, A and B and C).

[0127] Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a general purpose computer or special purpose computer, or a general purpose processor or general purpose processor Special. Also, any connection is properly called a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source over coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, so coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of media. Disk and floppy disk as used herein include compact disk (CD), laser disk, optical disk, digital versatile disk (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disk where floppy disks generally play data magnetically while disks play data optically with lasers. Combinations of the foregoing are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0128] The foregoing description of the disclosure is provided to enable a person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the description must not be limited to the examples and drawings described herein, but must conform to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features described herein.

Claims (15)

1. Method for wireless communications, characterized in that it comprises: identifying, in a first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1), control information associated with a first technology directional radio access point (RAT) for a user equipment (UE) (115-a - 115-h), the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) configured to communicate with the UE (115-a - 115-h) using the first directional RAT; and transmitting the control information associated with the first directional RAT to a second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) for forwarding to the UE (115-a-115-h) using a second RAT of a different type than the first RAT, where the control information is not related to a wireless connection between the UE (115-a-115-h) and the second base station (105-e-2 , 105-g-2, 105-i-2), and in which the control information is related to the management of a directional connection between the UE (115-a - 115-h) and the first base station (105-e -1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) through the first directional RAT. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it additionally comprises: including forwarding information in the control information that indicates to the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i- 2) to forward the control information to the UE (115-a, 115-h); where forward information specifies whether control information should be forwarded by the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) using a control channel or a data channel of the second RAT . 3. Method, according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises: including identification information in the control information indicating to the UE (115-a, 115-h) that the control information originated from the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1). 4. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it additionally comprises: transmitting control information from the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) to the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) via a return transport channel link (134-b, 134-d, 134-f) connecting the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) and the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2), where a connection between the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) to the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) over the link return transport channel (134-b, 134-d, 134-f) and between the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) and the UE (115-a , 115-h) forms a supplementary link between the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1 and the UE (115-a, 115h); or where the channel link backhaul (134-b, 134-d, 134-f) comprises an X2 interface. 5. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it additionally comprises: transmitting control information from the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) to the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) in response to an insufficient direct connection between the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105- i-1) and the UE (115-a, 115-h) over the first directional RAT, where control information cannot be transmitted from the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1 , 105-i-1) for UE (115-a — 115-h) using first directional RAT due to insufficient direct connection; or where the insufficient direct connection between the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) and the UE (115-a — 115-h) is due to at least one of a lack of data to be transmitted between the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) and the UE (115-a - 115-h) over the first directional RAT, a failure of a previous transmit beam from the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1), UE movement (115-a - 115-h) relative to the first base station ( 105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1), an improper transmit beam between the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) and the UE (115-a - 115-h), first base station overhead (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1), first directional RAT overhead, or a combination thereof. 6. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it additionally comprises: transmitting control information from the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) to the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) to conserve resources associated with the first directional RAT. 7. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it additionally comprises: transmitting control information from the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) to the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) to conserve power in the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) . 8. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises: receiving response information from the UE (115-a - 115-h) responsive to the transmitted control information, the response information being transmitted first from the UE (115-a — 115-h) to the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) using the second RAT and then issued from the second station base (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) to the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) via a channel link return carriage (134-b, 134-d, 134-f). 9. Method, according to claim 1, characterized in that the control information comprises one or more of: beam search coordination instructions, beam search results, programming grants, a quality information command (CQI), a keepalive message, beam shift information, an overload indication related to the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1), or a combination thereof. 10. Method, according to claim 1, characterized in that the first directional RAT is a millimeter wave RAT, in which the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i- 1) uses beamforming to communicate with the UE (115-a — 115-h) via millimeter wave RAT; or where the second RAT is more reliable than the first directional RAT and has a lower bandwidth capability than the first directional RAT, where the second RAT is a Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAT. 11. Method for wireless communications, characterized in that it comprises: receiving, in a user equipment (UE) (115-a - 115-h), control information associated with a first directional radio access technology (RAT ) for a first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1), the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) being configured to communicate with the UE (115-a - 115-h) using the first directional RAT, control information being received at the UE (115-a - 115-h) from a second base station (105-e -2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2), the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) being configured to communicate with the UE (115- a - 115-h) using a second RAT of a different type than the first RAT, and wherein the control information is related to managing a directional connection between the UE (115-a - 115-h) and the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) through the first directional RAT; and transmitting response information to the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) using the second RAT, the response information being forwarded to the first base station (105-e-2). 1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) based, at least in part, on the received control information. 12. Method according to claim 11, characterized in that it additionally comprises: executing a task responsive to the received control information, the response information comprising results of the executed task; or wherein the received control information comprises forward information instructing the UE (1115-a - 115-h) to transmit the response information to the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105 -i-2) for forwarding to the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) over a return transport channel link (134-b, 134-d, 134-f) between the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) and the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i- 1); or wherein the response information comprises one or more of a channel quality indication (CQI) report, a keepalive message response, beam shift information, beam seek information, or a combination thereof; or wherein control information is first received at the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) from the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g- 1, 105-i-l) and then broadcast to the UE (115-a — 115-h) from the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2) using the second RAT. 13. Method for wireless communications, characterized in that it comprises: receiving, from a first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) and from a second base station ( 105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2), control information associated with a first directional radio access technology (RAT) for a user equipment (UE) (115-a - 115- h), the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) configured to communicate with the UE (115-a - 115-h) using the first directional RAT; and determining whether to forward the control information to the UE (115-a - 115-h) using a second RAT of a different type than the first RAT, wherein the control information is not related to a wireless connection between the UE ( 115-a-115-h) and the second base station (105-e-2, 105-g-2, 105-i-2), and wherein the control information is related to managing a directional connection between the UE (115-a - 115-h) and the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-2) through the first directional RAT. 14. Method according to claim 13, characterized in that it further comprises: selectively forwarding the control information to the UE (115-a - 115-h) based, at least in part, on the determination; or selectively transmit a notification to the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) when control information is not forwarded to the I (115-a - 115-h); or transmitting the control information to the UE (115-a - 115-h) via a control channel or a data channel associated with the second RAT; or receive response information from the UE (115-a - 115-h) which respond to control information; and forwarding the response information to the first base station (105-e-1, 105-g-1, 105-i-1) over a backhaul channel link (134-b, 134-d, 134 -f). 15. Equipment for wireless communications, characterized in that it comprises: a processor (605); memory (615) in electronic communication with the processor (605); and instructions stored in memory (615), the instructions being executable by the processor (605) to carry out the steps of any one of the methods as defined in any one of claims 1 to 14.