WO2018145224A1

WO2018145224A1 - Downlink configuration

Info

Publication number: WO2018145224A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/000149
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wei Ling; Chenxi Zhu
Original assignee: Motorola Mobility Llc
Priority date: 2017-02-10
Filing date: 2017-02-10
Publication date: 2018-08-16

Abstract

Apparatuses, methods, and systems are disclosed for downlink configuration. One apparatus (200) includes a receiver (212) that receives (702) configuration information indicating a set of time durations and multiple receive beams for receiving downlink information. The configuration information indicates a receive beam of the multiple receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations. The receiver (212) receives (704) downlink information during the set of time durations using the receive beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations. The downlink information is transmitted on a shared transmit beam, and the shared transmit beam and configuration information are determined based on beam grouping information.

Description

DOWNLINK CONFIGURATION

FIELD

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to wireless communications and more particularly relates to downlink configuration.

BACKGROUND

The following abbreviations are herewith defined， at least some of which are referred to within the following description： Third Generation Partnership Project ( “3GPP” ) ， Positive-Acknowledgment ( “ACK” ) ， Binary Phase Shift Keying ( “BPSK” ) ， Clear Channel Assessment ( “CCA” ) ， Cyclic Prefix ( “CP” ) ， Channel State Information ( “CSI” ) ， Common Search Space ( “CSS” ) ， Discrete Fourier Transform Spread ( “DFTS” ) ， Downlink Control Information ( “DCI” ) ， Downlink ( “DL” ) ， Downlink Pilot Time Slot ( “DwPTS” ) ， Enhanced Clear Channel Assessment ( “eCCA” ) ， Enhanced Mobile Broadband ( “eMBB” ) ， Evolved Node B ( “eNB” ) ， European Telecommunications Standards Institute ( “ETSI” ) ， Frame Based Equipment ( “FBE” ) ， Frequency Division Duplex ( “FDD” ) ， Frequency Division Multiple Access ( “FDMA” ) ， Guard Period ( “GP” ) ， Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request ( “HARQ” ) ， Internet-of-Things ( “IoT” ) ， Licensed Assisted Access ( “LAA” ) ， Load Based Equipment ( “LBE” ) ， Listen-Before-Talk ( “LBT” ) ， Long Term Evolution ( “LTE” ) ， Multiple Access ( “MA” ) ， Modulation Coding Scheme ( “MCS” ) ， Machine Type Communication ( “MTC” ) ， Multiple Input Multiple Output ( “MIMO” ) ， Multi User Shared Access ( “MUSA” ) ， Narrowband ( “NB” ) ， Negative-Acknowledgment ( “NACK” ) or ( “NAK” ) ， Next Generation Node B ( “gNB” ) ， Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access ( “NOMA” ) ， Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing ( “OFDM” ) ， Primary Cell ( “PCell” ) ， Physical Broadcast Channel ( “PBCH” ) ， Physical Downlink Control Channel ( “PDCCH” ) ， Physical Downlink Shared Channel ( “PDSCH” ) ， Pattern Division Multiple Access ( “PDMA” ) ， Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel ( “PHICH” ) ， Physical Random Access Channel ( “PRACH” ) ， Physical Resource Block ( “PRB” ) ， Physical Uplink Control Channel ( “PUCCH” ) ， Physical Uplink Shared Channel ( “PUSCH” ) ， Quality of Service ( “QoS” ) ， Quadrature Phase Shift Keying ( “QPSK” ) ， Radio Resource Control ( “RRC” ) ， Random Access Procedure ( “RACH” ) ， Random Access Response ( “RAR” ) ， Reference Signal ( “RS” ) ， Resource Spread Multiple Access ( “RSMA” ) ， Round Trip Time ( “RTT” ) ， Receive ( “RX” ) ， Sparse Code Multiple Access ( “SCMA” ) ， Scheduling Request ( “SR” ) ， Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access ( “SC-FDMA” ) ， Secondary Cell ( “SCell” ) ， Shared Channel ( “SCH” ) ， Signal-to-Interference-Plus-Noise Ratio ( “SINR” ) ， System Information Block ( “SIB” ) ， Transport Block ( “TB” ) ， Transport Block Size ( “TBS” ) ， Time-Division Duplex ( “TDD” ) ， Time Division Multiplex ( “TDM” ) ， Transmission Time Interval ( “TTI” ) ， Transmit ( “TX” ) ， Uplink Control Information ( “UCI” ) ， User Entity/Equipment (Mobile Terminal) ( “UE” ) ， Uplink ( “UL” ) ， Universal Mobile Telecommunications System ( “UMTS” ) ， Uplink Pilot Time Slot ( “UpPTS” ) ， Ultra-reliability and Low-latency Communications ( “URLLC” ) ， and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access ( “WiMAX” ) . As used herein， “HARQ-ACK” may represent collectively the Positive Acknowledge ( “ACK” ) and the Negative Acknowledge ( “NAK” ) . ACK means that a TB is correctly received while NAK means a TB is erroneously received.

In certain wireless communications networks， a high carrier frequency (e.g.，＞6GHz) may be used， such as millimeter wave. Propagation characteristics at higher frequencies (e.g.， 6GHz， 30GHz， 70GHz， etc. ) may be significantly different from those at lower frequencies (e.g.， 1.8GHz， 2.6GHz， etc. ) . For example， at higher frequencies path loss may be much higher than at lower frequencies. In various configurations， beamtorming may be used at high frequencies to compensate for a large path loss.

In certain configurations， a beamforming technique based on multiple antennas may be used. In some configurations， due to an antenna size decreasing with an increasing carrier frequency， a number of antennas at a high carrier frequency may be much larger than a number of antennas at a low carrier frequency. The large number of antennas may facilitate a large beamforming gain to compensate for a large path loss.

In various configurations， three methods may be used to perform beamforming. For example， there may be digital beamforming， analog beamforming， and hybrid beamforming. In some configurations， for hybrid beamforming a transmitter beam and a receiver beam may be aligned to have beamforming gain.

Multiple digital beamforms may be transmitted or received in a same time in an FDM or a CDM manner. Unlike digital beamforming， different analog beamforming or the analog part of different hybrid beamforming may not be transmitted or received in the same time because of limitation of hardware implementation. Therefore， analog beamforming may only be used in a TDM manner.

In some configurations， an analog beamforming part in RF of hybrid beamforming may only implement one beam at the same time. In contrast， a digital beamforming part in baseband of hybrid beamforming may implement multiple beams at the same time. In certain configurations， a proper analog beamforming may be determined before transmission or reception.

In various configurations， a corresponding TX beam and RX beam may be determined or known before a transmission between a gNB and a UE. If a good linkage is maintained between a gNB and a UE， at least a pair of TX beam and RX beam may be maintained at the base station side and the UE side.

In certain configurations， a UE may determine its best RX beam by doing RX beam sweeping in the reception of downlink transmission and a gNB may determine its best TX beam by doing TX beam sweeping in the transmission of downlink transmission. In some configurations， a gNB may use a corresponding best TX beam to serve a UE， and the UE may use a corresponding best RX beam to receive a downlink signal. In various configurations， a gNB may only schedule UEs with a same best TX beam in the gNB at a time which may limit the scheduling of the gNB when only the best pair of TX beam and RX beam information is maintained in the gNB and UEs. In some configurations， beam grouping may mean that for a gNB or UE multiple Tx and/or Rx beam (s) and/or beam pair (s) may be grouped into one subset of beams.

In some configurations， if a UE has multiple beams in RX， it may know or determine a RX beam in advance for a downlink transmission even if it receives the downlink transmission using blind decoding. In various configurations， if only a best pair of TX beam and RX beam is maintained in a downlink between a gNB and a UE， then the UE may use the RX beam of the best beam pair to receive the downlink transmission even if there is no downlink transmission for it. In certain configurations， if multiple pairs of TX beams and RX beams are maintained in a downlink between a gNB and a UE in which multiple TX beams in the gNB may be used to serve the UE and multiple RX beams may be used to receive a downlink transmission， then the RX beam of the UE may be indicated by the gNB to receive the downlink transmission. Interference may occur with downlink transmissions for multiple UEs using conflicting TX and RX beam pairs.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Apparatuses for downlink configuration are disclosed. Methods and systems also perform the functions of the apparatus. In one embodiment， the apparatus includes a receiver that receives configuration information indicating a set of time durations and multiple receive beams for receiving downlink information. In some embodiments， the configuration information indicates a receive beam of the multiple receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations. In various embodiments， the receiver receives downlink information during the set of time durations using the receive beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations. In certain embodiments， the downlink information is transmitted on a shared transmit beam， and the shared transmit beam and configuration information are determined based on beam grouping information.

In one embodiment， the beam grouping information includes information identifying a group of transmit and receive beam pairs. In a further embodiment， the shared transmit beam transmits downlink information to multiple remote units. In certain embodiments， the shared transmit beam is determined based on the beam group information of the multiple remote units.

A method for downlink configuration， in one embodiment， includes receiving configuration information indicating a set of time durations and multiple receive beams for receiving downlink information. In some embodiments， the configuration information indicates a receive beam of the multiple receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations. The method also includes receiving downlink information during the set of time durations using the receive beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations. In various embodiments， the downlink information is transmitted on a shared transmit beam， and the shared transmit beam and configuration information are determined based on beam grouping information.

In one embodiment， an apparatus includes a processor that determines configuration information indicating a set of time durations and multiple receive beams for a remote unit to receive downlink information. In certain embodiments， the configuration information indicates a receive beam of the multiple receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations. In various embodiments， the apparatus includes a transmitter that transmits the configuration information to the remote unit and transmits downlink information during the set of time durations using a shared transmit beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations. In some embodiments， the shared transmit beam and configuration information are determined based on beam grouping information.

A method for downlink configuration， in one embodiment， includes determining configuration information indicating a set of time durations and multiple receive beams for a remote unit to receive downlink information. In some embodiments， the configuration information indicates a receive beam of the multiple receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations. The method also includes transmitting the configuration information to the remote unit. The method includes transmitting downlink information during the set of time durations using a shared transmit beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations. In various embodiments， the shared transmit beam and configuration information are determined based on beam grouping information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more particular description of the embodiments briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only some embodiments and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of scope， the embodiments will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings， in which：

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a wireless communication system for downlink configuration；

Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an apparatus that may be used for downlink configuration；

Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an apparatus that may be used for downlink configuration；

Figure 4 illustrates one embodiment of communications for downlink configuration；

Figures 5A-5E are schematic block diagrams illustrating one embodiment of a transmission configuration for transmissions from a gNB；

Figures 6A-6E are schematic block diagrams illustrating another embodiment of a transmission configuration for transmissions from a gNB；

Figure 7 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method for downlink configuration； and

Figure 8 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating another embodiment of a method for downlink configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art， aspects of the embodiments may be embodied as a system， apparatus， method， or program product. Accordingly， embodiments may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment， an entirely software embodiment (including firmware， resident software， micro-code， etc. ) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit， ” “module” or “system. ” Furthermore， embodiments may take the form of a program product embodied in one or more computer readable storage devices storing machine readable code， computer readable code， and/or program code， referred hereafter as code. The storage devices may be tangible， non-transitory， and/or non-transmission. The storage devices may not embody signals. In a certain embodiment， the storage devices only employ signals for accessing code.

Certain of the functional units described in this specification may be labeled as modules， in order to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example， a module may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom very-large-scale integration ( “VLSI” ) circuits or gate arrays， off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips， transistors， or other discrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays， programmable array logic， programmable logic devices or the like.

Modules may also be implemented in code and/or software for execution by various types of processors. An identified module of code may， for instance， include one or more physical or logical blocks of executable code which may， for instance， be organized as an object， procedure， or function. Nevertheless， the executables of an identified module need not be physically located together， but may iuclude disparate instructions stored in different locations which， when joined logically together， include the module and achieve the stated purpose for the module.

Indeed， a module of code may be a single instruction， or many instructions， and may even be distributed over several different code segments， among different programs， and across several memory devices. Similarly， operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within modules， and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set， or may be distributed over different locations including over different computer readable storage devices. Where a module or portions of a module are implemented in software， the software portions are stored on one or more computer readable storage devices.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium may be a storage device storing the code. The storage device may be， for example， but not limited to， an electronic， magnetic， optical， electromagnetic， infrared， holographic， micromechauical， or semiconductor system， apparatus， or device， or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the storage device would include the following： an electrical connection having one or more wires， a portable computer diskette， a hard disk， a random access memory ( “RAM” ) ， a read-only memory ( “ROM” ) ， an erasable programmable read-only memory ( “EPROM” or Flash memory) ， a portable compact disc read-only memory ( “CD-ROM” ) ， an optical storage device， a magnetic storage device， or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document， a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain， or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system， apparatus， or device.

Code for carrying out operations for embodiments may be any number of lines and may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages including an object oriented programming language such as Python， Ruby， Java， Smalltalk， C++， or the like， and conventional procedural programming languages， such as the "C" programming language， or the like， and/or machine languages such as assembly languages. The code may execute entirely on the user′s computer， partly on the user′s computer， as a stand-alone software package， partly on the user′s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario， the remote computer may be connected to the user′s computer through any type of network， including a local area network ( “LAN” ) or a wide area network ( “WAN” ) ， or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example， through the Internet using an Intemet Service Provider) .

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment， ” “an embodiment， ” or similar language means that a particular feature， structure， or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus， appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment， ” “in an embodiment， ” and similar language throughout this specification may， but do not necessarily， all refer to the same embodiment， but mean “one or more but not all embodiments” unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “including， ” “comprising， ” “having， ” and variations thereof mean “including but not limited to， ” unless expressly specified otherwise. An enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive， unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “a， ” “an， ” and “the” also refer to “one or more” unless expressly specified otherwise.

Furthermore， the described features， structures， or characteristics of the embodiments may be combined in any suitable manner. In the following description， numerous specific details are provided， such as examples of programming， software modules， user selections， network transactions， database queries， database structures， hardware modules， hardware circuits， hardware chips， etc.， to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize， however， that embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific details， or with other methods， components， materials， and so forth. In other instances， well-known structures， materials， or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of an embodiment.

Aspects of the embodiments are described below with reference to schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams of methods， apparatuses， systems， and program products according to embodiments. It will be understood that each block of the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams， and combinations of blocks in the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams， can be implemented by code. These code may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer， special purpose computer， or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine， such that the instructions， which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus， create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams block or blocks.

The code may also be stored in a storage device that can direct a computer， other programmable data processing apparatus， or other devices to function in a particular manner， such that the instructions stored in the storage device produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams block or blocks.

The code may also be loaded onto a computer， other programmable data processing apparatus， or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer， other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the code which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture， functionality， and operation of possible implementations of apparatuses， systems， methods and program products according to various embodiments. In this regard， each block in the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams may represent a module， segment， or portion of code， which includes one or more executable instructions of the code for implementing the specified logical function (s) .

It should also be noted that， in some alternative implementations， the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the Figures. For example， two blocks shown in succession may， in fact， be executed substantially concurrently， or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order， depending upon the functionality involved. Other steps and methods may be conceived that are equivalent in function， logic， or effect to one or more blocks， or portions thereof， of the illustrated Figures.

Although various arrow types and line types may be employed in the flowchart and/or block diagrams， they are understood not to limit the scope of the corresponding embodiments. Indeed， some arrows or other connectors may be used to indicate only the logical flow of the depicted embodiment. For instance， an arrow may indicate a waiting or monitoring period of unspecified duration between enumerated steps of the depicted embodiment. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart diagrams， and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart diagrams， can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts， or combinations of special purpose hardware and code.

The description of elements in each figure may refer to elements of proceeding figures. Like numbers refer to like elements in all figures， including alternate embodiments of like elements.

Figure 1 depicts an embodiment of a wireless communication system 100 for downlink configuration. In one embodiment， the wireless communication system 100 includes remote units 102 and base units 104. Even though a specific number of remote units 102 and base units 104 are depicted in Figure 1， one of skill in the art will recognize that any number of remote units 102 and base units 104 may be included in the wireless communication system 100.

In one embodiment， the remote units 102 may include computing devices， such as desktop computers， laptop computers， personal digital assistants ( “PDAs” ) ， tablet computers， smart phones， smart televisions (e.g.， televisions connected to the Internet) ， set-top boxes， game consoles， security systems (including security cameras) ， vehicle on-board computers， network devices (e.g.， routers， switches， modems) ， or the like. In some embodiments， the remote units 102 include wearable devices， such as smart watches， fitness bands， optical head-mounted displays， or the like. Moreover， the remote units 102 may be referred to as subscriber units， mobiles， mobile stations， users， terminals， mobile terminals， fixed terminals， subscriber stations， UE， user terminals， a device， or by other terminology used in the art. The remote units 102 may communicate directly with one or more of the base units 104 via UL communication signals.

The base units 104 may be distributed over a geographic region. In certain embodiments， a base unit 104 may also be referred to as an access point， an access terminal， a base， a base station， a Node-B， an eNB， a gNB， a Home Node-B， a relay node， a device， or by any other terminology used in the art. The base units 104 are generally part of a radio access network that includes one or more controllers communicably coupled to one or more corresponding base units 104. The radio access network is generally communicably coupled to one or more core networks， which may be coupled to other networks， like the Internet and public switched telephone networks， among other networks. These and other elements of radio access and core networks are not illustrated but are well known generally by those having ordinary skill in the art.

In one implementation， the wireless communication system 100 is compliant with the LTE of the 3GPP protocol， wherein the base unit 104 transmits using an OFDM modulation scheme on the DL and the remote units 102 transmit on the UL using a SC-FDMA scheme or an OFDM scheme. More generally， however， the wireless communication system 100 may implement some other open or proprietary communication protocol， for example， WiMAX， among other protocols. The present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the implementation of any particular wireless communication system architecture or protocol.

The base units 104 may serve a number of remote units 102 within a serving area， for example， a cell or a cell sector via a wireless communication link. The base units 104 transmit DL communication signals to serve the remote units 102 in the time， frequency， and/or spatial domain.

In one embodiment， a base unit 104 may determine configuration information indicating a set of time durations and multiple receive beams for a remote unit 102 to receive downlink information (e.g.， downlink data) . In certain embodiments， the configuration information may indicate a receive beam of the multiple receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations. In some embodiments， the base unit 104 may transmit the configuration information to the remote unit 102. In certain embodiments， the base unit 104 may transmit downlink information during the set of time durations using a shared transmit beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations. In various embodiments， the shared transmit beam and configuration information may be determined based on beam grouping information. Accordingly， a base unit 104 may be used for downlink configuration.

In another embodiment， a remote unit 102 may receive configuration information indicating a set of time durations and multiple receive beams for receiving downlink information. In certain embodiments， the configuration information may indicate a receive beam of the multiple receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations. The remote unit 102 may receive downlink information during the set of time durations using the receive beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations. In various embodiments， the downlink information may be transmitted on a shared transmit beam， and the shared transmit beam and configuration information may be determined based on beam grouping information. Accordingly， a remote unit 102 may be used for downlink configuration.

Figure 2 depicts one embodiment of an apparatus 200 that may be used for downlink configuration. The apparatus 200 includes one embodiment of the remote unit 102. Furthermore， the remote unit 102 may include a processor 202， a memory 204， an input device 206， a display 208， a transmitter 210， and a receiver 212. In some embodiments， the input device 206 and the display 208 are combined into a single device， such as a touchscreen. In certain embodiments， the remote unit 102 may not include any input device 206 and/or display 208. In various embodiments， the remote unit 102 may include one or more of the processor 202， the memory 204， the transmitter 210， and the receiver 212， and may not include the input device 206 and/or the display 208.

The processor 202， in one embodiment， may include any known controller capable of executing computer-readable instructions and/or capable of performing logical operations. For example， the processor 202 may be a microcontroller， a microprocessor， a central processing unit ( “CPU” ) ， a graphics processing unit ( “GPU” ) ， an auxiliary processing unit， a field programmable gate array ( “FPGA” ) ， or similar programmable controller. In some embodiments， the processor 202 executes instructions stored in the memory 204 to perform the methods and routines described herein. The processor 202 is communicatively coupled to the memory 204， the input device 206， the display 208， the transmitter 210， and the receiver 212.

The memory 204， in one embodiment， is a computer readable storage medium. In some embodiments， the memory 204 includes volatile computer storage media. For example， the memory 204 may include a RAM， including dynamic RAM ( “DRAM” ) ， synchronous dynamic RAM ( “SDRAM” ) ， and/or static RAM ( “SRAM” ) . In some embodiments， the memory 204 includes non-volatile computer storage media. For example， the memory 204 may include a hard disk drive， a flash memory， or any other suitable non-volatile computer storage device. In some embodiments， the memory 204 includes both volatile and non-volatile computer storage media. In some embodiments， the memory 204 stores data relating to downlink configuration. In some embodiments， the memory 204 also stores program code and related data， such as an operating system or other controller algorithms operating on the remote unit 102.

The input device 206， in one embodiment， may include any known computer input device including a touch panel， a button， a keyboard， a stylus， a microphone， or the like. In some embodiments， the input device 206 may be integrated with the display 208， for example， as a touchscreen or similar touch-sensitive display. In some embodiments， the input device 206 includes a touchsereen such that text may be input using a virtual keyboard displayed on the touchscreen and/or by handwriting on the touchscreen. In some embodiments， the input device 206 includes two or more different devices， such as a keyboard and a touch panel.

The display 208， in one embodiment， may include any known electronically controllable display or display device. The display 208 may be designed to output visual， audible， and/or haptic signals. In some embodiments， the display 208 includes an electronic display capable of outputting visual data to a user. For example， the display 208 may include， but is not limited to， an LCD display， an LED display， an OLED display， a projector， or similar display device capable of outputting images， text， or the like to a user. As another， non-limiting， example， the display 208 may include a wearable display such as a smart watch， smart glasses， a heads-up display， or the like. Further， the display 208 may be a component of a smart phone， a personal digital assistant， a television， a table computer， a notebook (laptop) computer， a personal computer， a vehicle dashboard， or the like.

In certain embodiments， the display 208 includes one or more speakers for producing sound. For example， the display 208 may produce an audible alert or notification (e.g.， a beep or chime) . In some embodiments， the display 208 includes one or more haptic devices for producing vibrations， motion， or other haptic feedback. In some embodiments， all or portions of the display 208 may be integrated with the input device 206. For example， the input device 206 and display 208 may form a touchsereen or similar touch-sensitive display. In other embodiments， the display 208 may be located near the input device 206.

The transmitter 210 is used to provide UL communication signals to the base unit 104 and the receiver 212 is used to receive DL communication signals from the base unit 104. In various embodiments， the receiver 212 may be used to receive configuration information indicating a set of time durations and multiple receive beams for receiving downlink information (e.g.， downlink data) . In some embodiments， the configuration information indicates a receive beam of the multiple receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations. In some embodiments， the receiver 212 may be used to receive downlink information during the set of time durations using the receive beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations. In various embodiments， the downlink information may be transmitted on a shared transmit beam， and the shared transmit beam and configuration information may be determined based on beam grouping information. Although only one transmitter 210 and one receiver 212 are illustrated， the remote unit 102 may have any suitable number of transmitters 210 and receivers 212. The transmitter 210 and the receiver 212 may be any suitable type of transmitters and receivers. In one embodiment， the transmitter 210 and the receiver 212 may be part of a transceiver.

Figure 3 depicts one embodiment of an apparatus 300 that may be used for downlink configuration. The apparatus 300 includes one embodiment of the base unit 104. Furthermore， the base unit 104 may include a processor 302， a memory 304， an input device 306， a display 308， a transmitter 310， and a receiver 312. As may be appreciated， the processor 302， the memory 304， the input device 306， the display 308， the transmitter 310， and the receiver 312 may be substantially similar to the processor 202， the memory 204， the input device 206， the display 208， the transmitter 210， and the receiver 212 of the remote unit 102， respectively.

In one embodiment， the processor 302 may determine configuration information indicating a set of time durations and multiple receive beams for a remote unit 102 to receive downlink information. In some embodiments， the configuration information indicates a receive beam of the multiple receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations. In various embodiments， the transmitter 310 is used to transmit the configuration information to the remote unit 102. In some embodiments， the transmitter 310 may be used to transmit downlink information during the set of time durations using a shared transmit beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations. In certain embodiments， the shared transmit beam and configuration information are determined based on beam grouping information. Although only one transmitter 310 and one receiver 312 are illustrated， the base unit 104 may have any suitable number of transmitters 310 and receivers 312. The transmitter 310 and the receiver 312 may be any suitable type of transmitters and receivers. In one embodiment， the transmitter 310 and the receiver 312 may be part of a transceiver.

Figure 4 illustrates one embodiment of communications 400 for downlink configuration. Specifically， communications 400 between a UE 402 and a gNB 404 are illustrated. The communications 400 may facilitate downlink transmission from the gNB 404 to the UE 402 based on beam grouping. The embodiment illustrated in Figure 4 has beam grouping applied. The beam grouping information may be obtained in the gNB 404 and the UE 402 by beam measurement and feedback. In some embodiments， the downlink transmission based on beam grouping may increase the flexibility of scheduling and the UE 402 may decrease blind decoding of the downlink transmission.

A first communication 406 may include a message transmitted from the gNB 404 to the UE 402. The first communication 406 may include configuration information used to configure the UE 402 for receiving an upcoming downlink transmission. In one embodiment， the configuration information may indicate a set of time durations and multiple receive beams for a remote unit to receive downlink information. In certain embodiments， the configuration information indicates a receive beam of the multiple receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations.

In various embodiments， the gNB 404 may configure a semi-static RX beam pattern in DL for the UE 402 based on the beam grouping information of the UE 402. Moreover， in certain embodiments， the gNB 404 may schedule UEs for DL transmission by using one or more shared TX beams of the scheduled UEs TX beams based on the RX beam pattern and the beam grouping information of the scheduled UEs. In various embodiments， if there are multiple TX beams shared by the scheduled UEs， the gNB 404 may choose one TX beam out of the multiple TX beams.

In some embodiments， after receiving the first communication 406， the UE 402 may receive， in a second communication 408， downlink information according to its RX beam pattern (e.g.， during the set of time durations using the RX beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations) . In various embodiments， the downlink information is transmitted on a shared transmit beam， and the shared transmit beam and configuration information are determined based on beam grouping information.

In certain embodiments， the beam grouping information of UEs may change with a channel’s variance. In such embodiments， the RX beam pattern in DL configured for the UEs may be changed based on the changed beam grouping information.

Figures 5A-5E are schematic block diagrams illustrating one embodiment of a transmission configuration 500 for transmissions from a gNB (e.g.， the gNB 404， the base unit 104) . Specifically， as illustrated in Figure 5A， the transmission configuration 500 includes a set of time durations 502 for a first UE (e.g.， the UE 402， the remote unit 102) forming a frame having a period of 10 ms. The set of time durations 502 includes multiple subframes each having a period of 1 ms. Specifically， the set of time durations 502 includes a first subframe 504， a second subframe 506， a third subframe 508， a fourth subframe 510， a fifth subframe 512， a sixth subframe 514， a seventh subframe 516， an eighth subframe 518， a ninth subframe 520， and a tenth subframe 522.

The gNB has 6 TX beams (e.g.， TX B0， TX B1， TX B2， TX B3， TX B4， and TX B5) for downlink transmission. In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 5A-5E， only two UEs (e.g.， UE1 and UE2) are used. Moreover， in this embodiment， there are 4 RX beams (e.g.， RX B0， RX B1， RX B2， and RX B3) in UE1 in DL and there are 4 RX beams (e.g.， RX B0， RX B1， RX B2， and RX B3) in UE2 in DL.

The beam group information for UE1 may include a first beam group having (TX B1， RX B2) and (TX B5， RX B2) and a second beam group having (TX B1， RX B3) and (TX B4， RX B3) . Moreover， the beam group information for UE2 may include a first beam group having (TX B0， RX B0) and (TX B5， RX B0) and a second beam group having (TX B2， RX B2) and (TX B4， RX B2) .

Based on the beam grouping information of UE1， only RX B2 and RX B3 may be used by UE1 to receive DL transmissions. Accordingly， the gNB may configure the RX beam pattern in DL for the UE1 as illustrated in Figure 5A with the first subframe 504 configured to use RX B2， the second subframe 506 configured to use RX B3， the third subframe 508 configured to use RX B2， the fourth subframe 510 configured to use RX B3， the fifth subframe 512 configured to use RX B2， the sixth subframe 514 configured to use RX B3， the seventh subframe 516 configured to use RX B2， the eighth subframe 518 configured to use RX B3， the ninth subframe 520 configured to use RX B2， and the tenth subframe 522 configured to use RX B3.

Based on the beam grouping information of UE2， only RX B0 and RX B2 may be used by UE2 to receive DL transmissions. Accordingly， the gNB may configure the RX beam pattern in DL for the UE2 as illustrated in Figure 5B. As illustrated in Figure 5B， a transmission configuration 524 includes a set of time durations 526 for a second UE (e.g.， UE2， the UE 402， the remote unit 102) forming a frame having a period of 10 ms. The set of time durations 526 includes multiple subframes each having a period of 1 ms. Specifically， the set of time durations 526 includes a first subframe 528， a second subframe 530， a third subframe 532， a fourth subframe 534， a fifth subframe 536， a sixth subframe 538， a seventh subframe 540， an eighth subframe 542， a ninth subframe 544， and a tenth subframe 546. Moreover， the gNB may configure the RX beam pattern in DL for the UE2 as illustrated with the first subframe 528 configured to use RX B0， the second subframe 530 configured to use RX B2， the third subframe 532 configured to use RX B0， the fourth subframe 534 configured to use RX B2， the fifth subframe 536 configured to use RX B0， the sixth subframe 538 configured to use RX B2， the seventh subframe 540 configured to use RX B0， the eighth subframe 542 configured to use RX B2， the ninth subframe 544 configured to use RX B0， and the tenth subframe 546 configured to use RX B2.

In certain embodiments， the gNB may schedule the UE1 and UE2 based on the beam group information. Taking the DL transmission 548 in a set of time durations 550 (e.g.， one frame) ， for example， as shown in Figure 5C， assume the gNB schedules UE1 and UE2 in a first subframe 552， then the gNB will use TX B5 (e.g.， shared transmit beam) to transmit the DL transmission for UE1 and UE2 because TX B5 is a pair TX beam for the RX beam in subframe (RX B2) of UE1 and is also a pair TX beam for the RX beam in this subframe (RX B0) of UE2 according to the RX beam patterns of UE1 and UE2 respectively. In a second subframe 554， the gNB schedules UE2 only whose RX beam in this subframe is RX B2. The gNB may choose either TX B2 or TX B4 to serve UE2 according to the beam grouping information of UE2. In the illustrated embodiment， the TX beam is TX B4. In a third subframe 556， the gNB schedules UE1 only whose RX beam in this subframe is RX B2. The gNB may choose TX B1， as illustrated， from the options of TX B1 and TX B5 which are both the pair beam of RX B2 to serve UE1 according to the beam grouping information of UE1. In afourth subframe 558， the gNB schedules UE1 and UE2 whose RX beams are RX B3 and RX B2 respectively. The gNB may use TX B4 (e.g.， shared transmit beam) to transmit the DL transmission for UE1 and UE2 since TX B4 is a pair TX beam for RX B3 of UE1 and is also a pair TX beam for RX B2 of UE2 according to the beam grouping information of UE1 and UE2. In a fifth subframe 560， the gNB schedules UE2 only whose RX beam in this subframe is RX B0. The gNB may choose either TX B0 or TX B5 to serve UE2 according to the beam grouping information of UE2. In the illustrated embodiment， the TX beam is TX B0.

In a sixth subframe 562， the gNB schedules UE1 only whose RX beam in this subframe is RX B3. The gNB may choose TX B1， as illustrated， from the options of TX B1 and TX B4 which are both the pair beam of RX B3 to serve UE1 according to the beam grouping information of UE1. In a seventh subframe 564， the gNB schedules UE1 and UE2 whose RX beams are RX B2 and RX B0 respectively. The gNB may use TX B5 (e.g.， shared transmit beam) to transmit the DL transmission for UE1 and UE2 since TX B5 is a pair TX beam for RX B2 of UE1 and is also a pair TX beam for RX B0 of UE2 according to the beam grouping information of UE1 and UE2. In an eighth subframe 566， the gNB schedules UE2 only whose RX beam in this subframe is RX B2. The gNB may choose either TX B2 or TX B4 to serve UE2 according to the beam grouping information of UE2. In the illustrated embodiment， the TX beam is TX B2. In a ninth subframe 568， the gNB schedules UE1 only whose RX beam in this subframe is RX B2. The gNB may choose TX B1， as illustrated， from the options of TX B1 and TX B5 which are both the pair beam of RX B2 to serve UE1 according to the beam grouping information of UE1. In a tenth subframe 570， the gNB schedules UE1 and UE2 whose RX beams are RX B3 and RX B2 respectively. The gNB may use TX B4 (e.g.， shared transmit beam) to transmit the DL transmission for UE1 and UE2 since TX B4 is a pair TX beam forRX B3 of UE1 and is also a pair TX beam for RX B2 of UE2 according to the beam grouping information of UE1 and UE2.

For UE1， because a semi-station RX beam pattern is configured by the gNB， it should receive DL in every subframe per frame according to the configuration of the RX beam pattern of UE1 as shown in Figure 5A. UE1 will detect DL transmissions 572 in the first subframe 504， the third subframe 508， the fourth subframe 510， the sixth subframe 514， the seventh subframe 516， the ninth subframe 520， and the tenth subframe 522 by using RX B2， RX B2， RX B3， RX B3， RX B2， RX B2， and RX B3 respectively as shown by the shaded boxes in Figure 5D.

For UE2， because a semi-station RX beam pattern is configured by the gNB， it should receive DL in every subframe per frame according to the configuration of the RX beam pattern of UE2 as shown in Figure 5B. UE2 will detect DL transmissions 574 in the first subframe 528， the second subframe 530， the fourth subframe 534， the fifth subframe 536， the seventh subframe 540， the eighth subframe 542， and the tenth subframe 546 by using RX B0， RX B2， RX B2， RX B0， RX B0， RX B2， and RX B2 respectively as shown by the shaded boxes in Figure 5E.

Figures 6A-6E are schematic block diagrams illustrating another embodiment of a transmission configuration 600 for transmissions from a gNB (e.g.， the gNB 404， the base unit 104) . Specifically， as illustrated in Figure 6A， the transmission configuration 600 includes a set of time durations 602 for a first UE (e.g.， the UE 402， the remote unit 102) forming a frame having a period of 10 ms. The set of time durations 602 includes multiple subframes each having a period of 1 ms. Specifically， the set of time durations 602 includes a first subframe 604， a second subframe 606， a third subframe 608， a fourth subframe 610， a fifth subframe 612， a sixth subframe 614， a seventh subframe 616， an eighth subframe 618， a ninth subframe 620， and a tenth subframe 622.

The gNB has 6 TX beams (e.g.， TX B0， TX B1， TX B2， TX B3， TX B4， and TX B5) for downlink transmission. In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 6A-6E， only two UEs (e.g.， UE1 and UE2) are used. Moreover， in this embodiment， there are 4 RX beams (e.g.， RX B0， RX B1， RX B2， and RX B3) in UE1 in DL and there are 4 RX beams (e.g.， RX B0， RX B1， RX B2， and RX B3) in UE2 in DL.

The beam group information for UE1 may include a first beam group having (TX B1， RX B1) and (TX B5， RX B1) and a second beam group having (TX B1， RX B3) and (TX B4， RX B3) . Moreover， the beam group information for UE2 may include a first beam group having (TX B0， RX B0) and (TX B5， RX B0) and a second beam group having (TX B2， RX B2) and (TX B4， RX B2) .

Based on the beam grouping information of UE1， only RX B1 and RX B3 may be used by UE1 to receive DL transmissions. Accordingly， the gNB may configure the RX beam pattern in DL for the UE1 as illustrated in Figure 6A with the first subframe 604 configured to use RX B1， the second subframe 606 configured to use RX B1， the third subframe 608 configured to use RX B3， the fifth subframe 612 configured to use RX B3， the sixth subframe 614 configured to use RX B1， the seventh subframe 616 configured to use RX B1， the ninth subframe 620 configured to use RX B3， and the tenth subframe 622 configured to use RX B3. As illustrated， UE1 doesn’t perform DL reception in the fourth subframe 610 and the eighth subframe 618， thereby facilitating a reduction in decoding time and/or power consumption of UE1.

Based on the beam grouping information of UE2， only RX B0 and RX B2 may be used by UE2 to receive DL transmissions. Accordingly， the gNB may configure the RX beam pattern in DL for the UE2 as illustrated in Figure 6B. As illustrated in Figure 6B， a transmission configuration 624 includes a set of time durations 626 for a second UE (e.g.， UE2， the UE 402， the remote unit 102) forming a frame having a period of 10 ms. The set of time durations 626 includes multiple subframes each having a period of 1 ms. Specifically， the set of time durations 626 includes a first subframe 628， a second subframe 630， a third subframe 632， a fourth subframe 634， a fifth subframe 636， a sixth subframe 638， a seventh subframe 640， an eighth subframe 642， a ninth subframe 644， and a tenth subframe 646. Moreover， the gNB may configure the RX beam pattern in DL for the UE2 as illustrated with the first subframe 628 configured to use RX B0， the second subframe 630 configured to use RX B2， the fourth subframe 634 configured to use RX B0， the fifth subframe 636 configured to use RX B2， the seventh subframe 640 configured to use RX B0， the eighth subframe 642 configured to use RX B2，and the tenth subframe 646 configured to use RX B2. As illustrated， UE2 doesn’t perform DL reception in the third subframe 632， the sixth subframe 638， and the ninth subframe 644， thereby facilitating a reduction in decoding time and/or power consumption of UE2.

In certain embodiments， the gNB may schedule the UE1 and UE2 based on the beam group information. Taking the DL transmission 648 in a set of time durations 650 (e.g.， one frame) ， for example， as shown in Figure 6C， assume the gNB schedules UE1 and UE2 in a first subframe 652， then the gNB will use TX B5 (e.g.， shared transmit beam) to transmit the DL transmission for UE1 and UE2 because TX B5 is a pair TX beam for the RX beam in subframe (RX B1) of UE1 and is also a pair TX beam for the RX beam in this subframe (RX B0) of UE2 according to the RX beam patterns of UE1 and UE2 respectively. In a second subframe 654， the gNB schedules UE2 only whose RX beam in this subframe is RX B2. The gNB may choose either TX B2 or TX B4 to serve UE2 according to the beam grouping information of UE2. In the illustrated embodiment， the TX beam is TX B4. In a third subframe 656， the gNB schedules UE1 only whose RX beam in this subframe is RX B3. As may be appreciated， the gNB does not schedule UE2 because of the configured RX beam pattern of UE2. The gNB may choose TX B1， as illustrated， from the options of TX B1 and TX B4 which are both the pair beam of RX B3 to serve UE1 according to the beam grouping information of UE1. In a fourth subframe 658， the gNB schedules UE2 only whose RX beam in this subframe is RX B0. As may be appreciated， the gNB does not schedule UE1 because of the configured RX beam pattern of UE1. The gNB may choose TX B0， as illustrated， from the options of TX B0 and TX B5 which are both the pair beam of RX B0 to serve UE2 according to the beam grouping information of UE2. In a fifth subframe 660， the gNB schedules UE1 and UE2 whose RX beams are RX B3 and RX B2 respectively. The gNB may use TX B4 (e.g.， shared transmit beam) to transmit the DL transmission for UE1 and UE2 since TX B4 is a pair TX beam for RX B3 of UE1 and is also a pair TX beam for RX B2 of UE2 according to the beam grouping information of UE1 and UE2.

In a sixth subframe 662， the gNB schedules UE1 only whose RX beam in this subframe is RX B1. As may be appreciated， the gNB does not schedule UE2 because of the configured RX beam pattern of UE2. The gNB may choose TX B1， as illustrated， from the options of TX B1 and TX B5 which are both the pair beam of RX B1 to serve UE1 according to the beam grouping information of UE1. In a seventh subframe 664， the gNB schedules UE1 and UE2 whose RX beams are RX B1 and RX B0 respectively. The gNB may use TX B5 (e.g.， shared transmit beam) to transmit the DL transmission for UE1 and UE2 since TX B5 is a pair TX beam for RX B1 of UE1 and is also a pair TX beam for RX B0 of UE2 according to the beam grouping information of UE1 and UE2. In an eighth subframe 666， the gNB schedules UE2 only whose RX beam in this subframe is RX B2. As may be appreciated， the gNB does not schedule UE1 because of the configured RX beam pattern of UE1. The gNB may choose either TX B2 or TX B4 to serve UE2 according to the beam grouping information of UE2. In the illustrated embodiment， the TX beam is TX B2. In a ninth subframe 668， the gNB schedules UE1 only whose RX beam in this subframe is RX B3. As may be appreciated， the gNB does not schedule UE2 because of the configured RX beam pattern of UE2. The gNB may choose TX B1， as illustrated， from the options of TX B 1 and TX B4 which are both the pair beam of RX B3 to serve UE1 according to the beam grouping information of UE1. In a tenth subframe 670， the gNB schedules UE1 and UE2 whose RX beams are RX B3 and RX B2 respectively. The gNB may use TX B4 (e.g.， shared transmit beam) to transmit the DL transmission for UE1 and UE2 since TX B4 is a pair TX beam for RX B3 of UE1 and is also a pair TX beam for RX B2 of UE2 according to the beam grouping information of UE1 and UE2.

For UE1， because a semi-station RX beam pattern is configured by the gNB， it should receive DL in every subframe per frame according to the configuration of the RX beam pattern of UE1 as shown in Figure 6A. UE1 will do downlink reception in the first subframe 604， the second subframe 606， the third subframe 608， the fifth subframe 612， the sixth subframe 614， the seventh subframe 616， the ninth subframe 620， and the tenth subframe 622， and detect DL transmissions 672 in the first subframe 604， the third subframe 608， the fifth subframe 612， the sixth subframe 614， the seventh subframe 616， the ninth subframe 620， and the tenth subframe 622 by using RX B1， RX B3， RX B3， RX B1， RX B1， RX B3， and RX B3 respectively as shown by the shaded boxes in Figure 6D.

For UE2， because a semi-station RX beam pattern is configured by the gNB， it should receive DL in every subframe per frame according to the configuration of the RX beam pattern of UE2 as shown in Figure 6B. UE2 will do downlink reception in the first subframe 628， the second subframe 630， the fourth subframe 634， the fifth subframe 636， the seventh subframe 640， the eighth subframe 642， and the tenth subframe 646， and detect DL transmissions 674 in the first subframe 628， the second subframe 630， the fourth subframe 634， the fifth subframe 636， the seventh subframe 640， the eighth subframe 642， and the tenth subframe 646 by using RX B0， RX B2， RX B0， RX B2， RX B0， RX B2， and RX B2 respectively as shown by the shaded boxes in Figure 6E.

Figure 7 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method 700 for downlink configuration. In some embodiments， the method 700 is performed by an apparatus， such as the remote unit 102. In certain embodiments， the method 700 may be performed by a processor executing program code， for example， a microcontroller， a microprocessor， a CPU， a GPU， an auxiliary processing unit， a FPGA， or the like.

The method 700 may include receiving 702 configuration information indicating a set of time durations and multiple receive beams for receiving downlink information. In some embodiments， the configuration information may indicate a receive beam of the multiple receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations. The method 700 also includes receiving 704 downlink information during the set of time durations using the receive beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations. In various embodiments， the downlink information is transmitted on a shared transmit beam， and the shared transmit beam and configuration information are determined based on beam grouping information.

Figure 8 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method 800 for downlink configuration. In some embodiments， the method 800 is performed by an apparatus， such as the base unit 104. In certain embodiments， the method 800 may be performed by a processor executing program code， for example， a microcontroller， a microprocessor， a CPU， a GPU， an auxiliary processing unit， a FPGA， or the like.

The method 800 may include determining 802 configuration information indicating a set of time durations and multiple receive beams for a remote unit 102 to receive downlink information. In some embodiments， the configuration information may indicate a receive beam of the multiple receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations. The method 800 also includes transmitting 804 the configuration information to the remote unit 102. The method 800 includes transmitting 806 downlink information during the set of time durations using a shared transmit beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations. In various embodiments， the shared transmit beam and configuration information are determined based on beam grouping information.

Embodiments may be practiced in other specific forms. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is， therefore， indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Claims

An apparatus comprising：

a receiver that：

receives configuration information indicating a set of time durations and a plurality of receive beams for receiving downlink information， wherein the configuration information indicates a receive beam of the plurality of receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations； and

receives downlink information during the set of time durations using the receive beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations， wherein the downlink information is transmitted on a shared transmit beam， and the shared transmit beam and configuration information are determined based on beam grouping information.
The apparatus of claim 1， wherein the beam grouping information comprises information identifying a group of transmit and receive beam pairs.
The apparatus of claim 1， wherein the shared transmit beam transmits downlink information to a plurality of remote units.
The apparatus of claim 3， wherein the shared transmit beam is determined based on the beam group information of the plurality of remote units.
A method comprising：

receiving configuration information indicating a set of time durations and a plurality of receive beams for receiving downlink information， wherein the configuration information indicates a receive beam of the plurality of receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations； and

receiving downlink information during the set of time durations using the receive beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations， wherein the downlink information is transmitted on a shared transmit beam， and the shared transmit beam and configuration information are determined based on beam grouping information.
The method of claim 5， wherein the beam grouping information comprises information identifying a group of transmit and receive beam pairs.
The method of claim 5， wherein the shared transmit beam transmits downlink information to a plurality of remote units.
The method of claim 7， wherein the shared transmit beam is determined based on the beam group information of the plurality of remote units.
An apparatus comprising：

a processor that determines configuration information indicating a set of time durations and a plurality of receive beams for a remote unit to receive downlink information， wherein the configuration information indicates a receive beam of the plurality of receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations； and

a transmitter that：

transmits the configuration information to the remote unit； and

transmits downlink information during the set of time durations using a shared transmit beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations， wherein the shared transmit beam and configuration information are determined based on beam grouping information.
The apparatus of claim 9， wherein the beam grouping information comprises information identifying a group of transmit and receive beam pairs.
The apparatus of claim 9， wherein the shared transmit beam transmits downlink information to a plurality of remote units.
The apparatus of claim 11， wherein the shared transmit beam is determined based on the beam group information of the plurality of remote units.
A method comprising：

determining configuration information indicating a set of time durations and a plurality of receive beams for a remote unit to receive downlink information， wherein the configuration information indicates a receive beam of the plurality of receive beams corresponding to each time duration of the set of time durations；

transmitting the configuration information to the remote unit； and

transmitting downlink information during the set of time durations using a shared transmit beam corresponding to a respective time duration of the set of time durations， wherein the shared transmit beam and configuration information are determined based on beam grouping information.
The method of claim 13， wherein the beam grouping information comprises information identifying a group of transmit and receive beam pairs.
The method of claim 13， wherein the shared transmit beam transmits downlink information to a plurality of remote units.
The method of claim 15， wherein the shared transmit beam is determined based on the beam group information of the plurality of remote units.