WO2021022556A1

WO2021022556A1 - Beam alignment

Info

Publication number: WO2021022556A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/099803
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zhihang Li
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd.; Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2019-08-08
Filing date: 2019-08-08
Publication date: 2021-02-11
Also published as: CN114600382A

Abstract

A network device (310-1,310-2) determines the BA alignment based on the beam report received from the terminal device (320-1,320-2,…，320-N). The network device (310-1,310-2) also determines the BA alignment in association with other criteria, for example, capability of the terminal device (320-1,320-2,…，320-N), and cell interference. In this way, the BA alignment is determined for accurately and system performance is improved.

Description

BEAM ALIGNMENT

FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communications and in particular, to a method, device, apparatus and computer readable storage medium for beam alignment.

BACKGROUND

With developments of communication systems, new technologies have been proposed. In order to accommodate the increasing number of terminal devices and provide variety of applications, new radio (NR) system adopts larger bandwidth and higher frequency band than long term evolution advanced (LTE-A) system. The coordination among multiple transmission points, namely multi-TRP scenario, can make several TRPs transmit data to a terminal device simultaneously, which can improve the system performances further. However, the coverage and throughput of NR system may not be guaranteed with omnidirectional antennas due to hostile propagation qualities, including large path loss, atmospheric and rain absorptions, low diffraction around obstacles and penetration through objects on high frequency band.

SUMMARY

Generally, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method for beam alignment and the corresponding communication devices.

In a first aspect, there is provided a first device. The first device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program codes; the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to transmit, from a first device and to a second device, a first reference signal using a transmitting beam sweeping. The first device is also caused to receive, from the second device, a beam report generated based on the first reference signal and a second reference signal transmitted from a third device to the second device, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam. The first device is further caused to determine at least a target receiving beam and a target transmitting beam based on the beam report. The first device is yet caused to transmit identity information of the target receiving beam to the second device for communications between the first and second devices and/or between the third and the second device.

In a second aspect, there is provided a second device. The second device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program codes; the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second device to receive, from a first device, a first reference signal using a receiving beam sweeping. The second device is also caused to receive, from a third device, a second reference signal using the receiving beam sweeping. The second device is also caused to generate a beam report based on the first reference signal and the second reference signal, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam. The second device is further caused to transmit the beam report to the first device. The second device is yet caused to receive, from the first device, identity information of a target receiving beam selected based on the beam report.

In a third aspect, there is provided a third device. The third device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program codes; the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the third device to transmit, from a first device, synchronization information, the synchronization information comprising at least one of: a cell load or a beam pattern of the third device. The third device is also caused to transmit a second reference signal to a second device, the second reference signal being used for generating a beam report by the second device. The third device is further caused to receive, from the first device, identity information of a target transmitting beam selected based on the beam report by the first device.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises transmitting, from a first device and to a second device, a first reference signal using a transmitting beam sweeping; receiving from the second device a beam report generated based on the first reference signal and a second reference signal transmitted from a third device to the second device, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam; determining at least a target receiving beam and a target transmitting beam based on the beam report; and transmitting identity information of the target receiving beam to the second device for communications between the first and second devices and/or between the third and the second device.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises receiving, from a first device, a first reference signal using a receiving beam sweeping; receiving, from a third device, a second reference signal using the receiving beam sweeping; generating a beam report based on the first reference signal and the second reference signal, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam; transmitting the beam report to the first device; and receiving, from the first device, identity information of a target receiving beam selected based on the beam report.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises transmitting, from a first device, synchronization information, the synchronization information comprising at least one of: a cell load or a beam pattern of the third device; transmitting a second reference signal to a second device, the second reference signal being used for generating a beam report by the second device; and receiving, from the first device, identity information of a target transmitting beam selected based on the beam report by the first device.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises means for transmitting, from a first device and to a second device, a first reference signal using a transmitting beam sweeping; means for receiving from the second device a beam report generated based on the first reference signal and a second reference signal transmitted from a third device to the second device, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam; and means for determining at least a target receiving beam and a target transmitting beam based on the beam report; and means for transmitting identity information of the target receiving beam to the second device for communications between the first and second devices and/or between the third and the second device.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a first device, a first reference signal using a receiving beam sweeping; means for receiving, from a third device, a second reference signal using a receiving beam sweeping; means for generating a beam report based on the first reference signal and the second reference signal, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam; and means for receiving, from the first device, identity information of a target receiving beam selected based on the beam report.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises means for transmitting, from a first device, synchronization information, the synchronization information comprising at least one of: a cell load or a beam pattern of the third device; means for transmitting a second reference signal to a second device, the second reference signal being used for generating a beam report by the second device; and means for receiving, from the first device, identity information of a target transmitting beam selected based on the beam report by the first device.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to any one of the above fourth to sixth aspects.

It is to be understood that the summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of beam alignment according to conventional technologies;

Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of interactions among devices according to conventional technologies;

Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a communication system according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of interactions among devices according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 5A-5D illustrate diagrams of beam alignments according to conventional technologies;

Fig. 6 illustrates a flow chart of a method implemented at a network device according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 7 illustrates a flow chart of a method implemented at a terminal device according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 8 illustrates a flow chart of a method implemented at a network device according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 9 illustrates a schematic diagram of a device according to embodiments of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 10 shows a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.

As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and

(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable) :

(i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit (s) with software/firmware and

(ii) any portions of hardware processor (s) with software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and

(c) hardware circuit (s) and or processor (s) , such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a user equipment and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.95G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the future fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a user equipment accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a NR NB (also referred to as a gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology.

The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE) , a Subscriber Station (SS) , a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS) , or an Access Terminal (AT) . The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) , an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD) , a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery) , an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts) , a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

As mention above, the coverage and throughput of NR system may not be guaranteed with omnidirectional antennas. Therefore, NR system uses directional antennas and big antenna arrays to produce narrow beams with high beamforming gains.

Since the high beamforming gain beams are narrow, the transmitting-receiving beam pair link (BPL) of TRP and terminal device must be aligned. Otherwise, if the beam selection of TRP and terminal device is not designed well, there may cause extremely large path loss, severely inter-beam interference or large transmission delay, which deteriorates system performances.

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of beam alignment according to conventional technologies. In conventional technologies, network triggered aperiodic beam reporting is supported. Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of interactions among devices according to conventional technologies. The network device 120-1 may transmit 2010 the downlink signal to the terminal device 110. The terminal device 110 may perform 2020 the beam measurement based on the reference signals for beam management. The total number of configured beams may be K, and the terminal device 110 may report measurement results of N selected transmitting (TX) beams, where N can be any suitable number. The beam report may include measurement quantities for N beam (s) and information indicating N downlink (DL) Tx beam (s) , if N < K.

The terminal device 110 may decide the beam alignment based on beam quality for the network device 120-1 and the network device 120-1 respectively. The network device 120-1 may be a primary serving TRP (PST) and the network device 120-2 may be a secondary serving TRP (SST) . For example, the BPL 130 which comprises the RX beam 130-1 and the TX beam 130-2 is for the network device 120-1 and the BPL 140 which comprises the RX beam 140-1 and the TX beam 140-2 is for the network device 140. The terminal device 110 may transmit the BA decision to the network device 120-1. For overhead reduction purpose, the terminal device 110 does not need to report its receiving beam identity. However, if the terminal device 110 can only generate one beam at a time period, whether it chooses to use the RX beam 130-1 or the RX beam 140-1, it will not align with the other one. Thus, new mechanism for beam alignment should be proposed.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the network device determines the BA alignment based on the beam report received from the terminal device. The network device also determines the BA alignment in association with other criteria (for example, UE capability, and cell interference) . In this way, the BA alignment is determined for accurately and system performance is improved.

Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a communication system 300 which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The communication system 300 comprises the first devices 310 and the second devices 320. For the purpose of illustrations, the first devices 310 may be referred to as the network device 310 and the second device 320 may be referred to as the terminal device 320 hereinafter. It should be noted that the first devices and the second devices are interchangeable. For example, the procedures which are described to be implemented at the terminal device may also be able to be implemented at the network device and the procedures which are described to be implemented at the network device may also be able to be implemented at the terminal device.

The link from the second device 320 to the first devices 310 may be referred to as the “uplink” and the link from the first devices 310 to the second device 320-1 may be referred to as the “downlink” .

The communication system 300, which is a part of a communication network, comprises terminal devices 320-1, 320-2, ..., 320-N (collectively referred to as “terminal device (s) 320” where N is an integer number) . The communication system 300 comprises one or more network devices, for example, network devices 310-1 and 310-2. It should be understood that the communication system 300 may also comprise other elements which are omitted for the purpose of clarity. It is to be understood that the numbers of terminal devices and network devices shown in Fig. 3 are given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The terminal devices 320 and the network device 310 may communicate with each other.

It is to be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices is only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The system 300 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

Communications in the communication system 300 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol (s) , comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) and the fifth generation (5G) and on the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 902.11 and the like, and/or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) , Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) , Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) , Time Division Duplex (TDD) , Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM) , Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and/or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

Fig. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of interactions 400 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The interactions 400 may be implemented at any suitable devices. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the interactions 400 are described to be implemented at the network devices 310-1, 310-2 and the terminal device 320-1. It should be noted that embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in any suitable scenarios.

In some embodiments, the network device 310-2 may transmit 4005 synchronization information to the network device 310-1 so that the network devices 310-1 and 310-2 can synchronize. The synchronization information may comprise cell load of the network device 310-2. Alternatively, the synchronization information may comprise beam pattern of the network device 310-2. It should be noted that the synchronization information may comprise any suitable information which can be used to synchronize the network devices 310-1 and 310-2. The synchronization information may be transmitted via backhaul.

The network device 310-1 transmits 4010 a reference signal (referred to as “the first reference signal” hereinafter) to the terminal device 320-1. The first reference signal may comprise a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) which can be used by the terminal device 320-1 to estimate the channel. Alternatively or in addition, the first reference signal may comprise a synchronization signal (SS) which can be used for a terminal device which is trying to enter the network to get synchronized to the network device or even for a terminal device to maintain its already gained synchronization. The network device 310-1 may transmit the reference signal using transmitting (TX) beam sweeping. The term “beam sweeping” used herein refer to a technique to transmit the beams in all predefined directions in a burst in a regular interval. The number of TX beams of the network device 310-1 may be K1.

The network device 310-2 transmits 4015 a further reference signal (referred to as “the second reference signal” hereinafter) to the terminal device 320-1. The second reference signal may comprise a CSI-RS. Alternatively or in addition, the second reference signal may comprise a SS. The network device 310-2 may transmit the reference signal using TX beam sweeping. The number of TX beams of the network device 310-2 may be K2.

The terminal device 320-1 performs 4020 the beam measurement on the first reference signal. If the network device 310-2 transmits the second reference signal to the terminal device 320-1, the terminal device 320-1 also performs the beam measurement on the second reference signal. The terminal device 320-1 may perform the beam measurement with receiving (RX) beam sweeping.

The terminal device 320-1 generates 4025 a beam report based on the beam measurement. The beam report may indicate the capability of the terminal device 320-1, for example, the number of beams that the terminal device 320-1 is able to support at the same time. The beam report may indicate beam quality of a first set of BPLs between the network device 310-1 and the terminal device 320-1. Since the network device 310-1 and the terminal device 320-1 perform beam sweeping, the terminal device 320-1 can obtain beam qualities of the beam pairs. The beam quality may comprise Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of BPLs. Alternatively or in addition, the beam quality may comprise Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) of BPLs. The beam report may also comprise identity information of the corresponding TX and RX beams of the BPL. If the terminal device 320-1 performs the beam measurement on the second reference signal, the terminal device 320-1 may also generate the beam report based on the second reference signal. The beam report may indicate beam quality of a second set of BPLs between the network device 310-2 and the terminal device 320-1.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 320-1 may determine whether the beam quality exceeds a threshold value. For example, the terminal device 320-1 may compare the RSRP of one BPL with a threshold RSRP and if the RSRP is below the threshold RSRP, the terminal device 320-1 may generate the beam report which does not include the BPL. If the RSRP exceeds the threshold RSRP, the terminal device 320-1 may determine that the BPL belongs to the first set of BPLs. In some embodiments, the beam report may comprise N1 BPLs for the network device 310-1 and N2 BPLs for the network device 310-2.

The terminal device 320-1 transmits 4025 the beam report to the network device 310-1. The beam report may be transmitted via an uplink reference signal. For example, the beam report may be transmitted on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) . Alternatively or in addition, the beam report may be transmitted on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) .

The network device 310-1 determines 4030 the target RX beam and the target TX beam based on the beam report. In some embodiments, the network device 310-1 may determine the target RX beam and the target TX beam based on the beam report and criteria for communications with the terminal device 320-1. For example, the criteria may comprise one or more of maximal throughput, minimal latency and load balance. In some embodiments, the network device 310-1 may determine the target RX/TX beam based on one or more of beam quality, inter/intra cell interference, cells load of the BPL of the network devices and the like. For example, if the criteria need the minimal latency, the network device 310-1 may determine the BPL with the minimum latency. If the criteria need the maximal throughput, the network device 310-1 may determine the BPL with the maximum throughput. In this way, the BA decision is made by the network device which considers other factors.

Figs. 5A-5D illustrate diagrams of beam alignments according to conventional technologies. If the network device 310-1 determines that the network device 310-2 is congested based on the cell load included in the synchronization information, the network device 310-1 may determine the target RX beam and the target TX beam from the first set of BLPs. As shown in Fig. 5A, the network device 310-1 may determine the RX bam 510-1 to be the target RX beam and the TX beam 510-2 to be the target TX beam based on the beam report.

If the network device 310-1 determines that the network device 310-2 is congested based on its cell load, the network device 310-1 may determine the target RX beam and the target TX beam from the second set of BLPs. As shown in Fig. 5B, the network device 310-1 may determine the RX bam 520-1 to be the target RX beam and the TX beam 520-2 to be the target TX beam based on the beam report.

If the beam report indicates that the terminal device 320-1 is able to support two RX beams simultaneously, the network device 310-1 may select the best BPLs from the first and second sets of BPL. As shown in Fig. 5C, the network device 310-1 may determine the RX beam 510-1 and the TX beam 510-2 to be the target RX and TX beams for the network device 310-1 and determine the RX beam 520-1 and the TX beam 520-2 to be the target RX and TX beams for the network device 310-2. The terminal device 320-1 may communicate with the network devices 310-1 and 310-2 by non-coherent joint transmission (NCJT) .

If the beam report indicates that the terminal device 320-1 is only able to support one RX beams simultaneously, the network device 310-1 may determine one target RX beam and two target TX beams. As shown in Fig. 5D, the network device 310-1 may determine the TX beam 510-2 to be the target TX beam for the network device 310-1 and determine the TX beam 520-2 to be the target TX beam for the network device 310-2. The network device may determine the RX beam 530 to be the target RX beam for the network devices 310-1 and 310-2. The terminal device 320-1 may communicate with the network devices 310-1 and 310-2 by NCJT. The beam quality between the RX beam 530 and the TX beam 510-2 and the beam quality between the RX beam 530 and the TX beam 520-2 exceed a threshold quality. That is to say, the RX beam 530 is a compromised beam considering the overall performance of the whole system.

Referring back to Fig. 4, the network device 310-1 transmits 4035 the identity information of the target RX beam to the terminal device 320-1. For example, the identity information may be transmitted via downlink reference signal on the physical downlink control channel. In some embodiments, if the target TX beam comprises one TX beam of the network device 310-2, the network device 310-1 may transmit 4040 the identity information of the target TX beam to the network 310-2 via backhaul.

Fig. 6 illustrates a flow chart of a method 600 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 600 may be implemented at any suitable devices. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 600 is described to be implemented at the network device 310-1.

In some embodiments, the network device 310-1 may receive synchronization information from the network device 310-2 so that the network devices 310-1 and 310-2 can synchronize. The synchronization information may comprise cell load of the network device 310-2. Alternatively, the synchronization information may comprise beam pattern of the network device 310-2. It should be noted that the synchronization information may comprise any suitable information which can be used to synchronize the network devices 310-1 and 310-2. The synchronization information may be transmitted via backhaul.

At block 610, the network device 310-1 transmits a reference signal (referred to as “the first reference signal” hereinafter) to the terminal device 320-1. The first reference signal may comprise the CSI-RS. Alternatively or in addition, the first reference signal may comprise the SS.

The network device 310-1 may transmit the reference signal using transmitting (TX) beam sweeping. The term “beam sweeping” used herein refer to a technique to transmit the beams in all predefined directions in a burst in a regular interval. The number of TX beams of the network device 310-1 may be K1.

At block 620, the network device receives the beam report generated based on the first reference signal and the second reference signal transmitted from the third device to the second device. The beam report may indicate the capability of the terminal device 320-1, for example, the number of beams that the terminal device 320-1 is able to support at the same time. The beam report may indicate beam quality of a first set of BPLs between the network device 310-1 and the terminal device 320-1. Since the network device 310-1 and the terminal device 320-1 perform beam sweeping, the terminal device 320-1 can obtain beam qualities of the beam pairs. The beam quality may comprise the RSRP of BPLs. Alternatively or in addition, the beam quality may comprise the SINR of BPLs. The beam report may also comprise identity information of the corresponding TX and RX beams of the BPL.

If the network device 310-2 transmits the second reference signal to the terminal deice 320-1, the beam report may be also generated based on the second reference signal. The beam report may indicate beam quality of a second set of BPLs between the network device 310-2 and the terminal device 320-1.

At block 630, the network device 310-1 determines the target RX beam and the target TX beam based on the beam report. In some embodiments, the network device 310-1 may determine the target RX beam and the target TX beam based on the beam report and criteria for communications with the terminal device 320-1. For example, the criteria may comprise one or more of maximal throughput, minimal latency and load balance. In some embodiments, the network device 310-1 may determine the target RX/TX beam based on one or more of beam quality, inter/intra cell interference, cells load of the BPL of the network devices and the like. For example, if the criteria need the minimal latency, the network device 310-1 may determine the BPL with the minimum latency. If the criteria need the maximal throughput, the network device 310-1 may determine the BPL with the maximum throughput. In this way, the BA decision is made by the network device which considers other factors.

If the network device 310-1 determines that the network device 310-2 is congested based on the cell load included in the synchronization information, the network device 310-1 may determine the target RX beam and the target TX beam from the first set of BLPs. If the network device 310-1 determines that the network device 310-2 is congested based on its cell load, the network device 310-1 may determine the target RX beam and the target TX beam from the second set of BLPs.

If the beam report indicates that the terminal device 320-1 is able to support two RX beams simultaneously, the network device 310-1 may select the best BPLs from the first and second sets of BPL. The terminal device 320-1 may communicate with the network devices 310-1 and 310-2 by non-coherent joint transmission (NCJT) .

If the beam report indicates that the terminal device 320-1 is able to support two RX beams simultaneously, the network device 310-1 may select the best BPLs from the first and second sets of BPL. The terminal device 320-1 may communicate with the network devices 310-1 and 310-2 by non-coherent joint transmission (NCJT) . If the beam report indicates that the terminal device 320-1 is only able to support one RX beams simultaneously, the network device 310-1 may determine one target RX beam and two target TX beams.

At block 640, the network device 310-1 transmits the identity information of the target RX beam to the terminal device 320-1. For example, the identity information may be transmitted via downlink reference signal on the physical downlink control channel. In some embodiments, if the target TX beam comprises one TX beam of the network device 310-2, the network device 310-1 may transmit the identity information of the target TX beam to the network 310-2 via backhaul.

Fig. 7 illustrates a flow chart of a method 700 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 700 may be implemented at any suitable devices. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 700 is described to be implemented at the terminal device 320-1.

At block 710, the terminal device 320-1 receives the first reference signal from the network device 310-1. The first reference signal may comprise the CSI-RS. Alternatively or in addition, the first reference signal may comprise the SS. The first reference signal may be received using RX beam sweeping.

At block 720, the terminal device 320-1 receives the second reference signal from the network device 310-2. The second reference signal may comprise a CSI-RS. Alternatively or in addition, the second reference signal may comprise a SS.

At block 730, the terminal device 320-1 generates a beam report based on the beam measurement. In some embodiments, the terminal device 320-1 performs beam measurement on the first reference signal. If the network device 310-2 transmits the second reference signal to the terminal device 320-1, the terminal device 320-1may also perform the beam measurement on the second reference signal. The terminal device 320-1 may perform the beam measurement with receiving (RX) beam sweeping.

The beam report may indicate the capability of the terminal device 320-1, for example, the number of beams that the terminal device 320-1 is able to support at the same time. The beam report may indicate beam quality of a first set of BPLs between the network device 310-1 and the terminal device 320-1. Since the network device 310-1 and the terminal device 320-1 perform beam sweeping, the terminal device 320-1 can obtain beam qualities of the beam pairs. The beam quality may comprise the RSRP of BPLs. Alternatively or in addition, the beam quality may comprise the SINR) of BPLs. The beam report may also comprise identity information of the corresponding TX and RX beams of the BPL. If the terminal device 320-1 performs the beam measurement on the second reference signal, the terminal device 320-1 may also generate the beam report based on the second reference signal. The beam report may indicate beam quality of a second set of BPLs between the network device 310-2 and the terminal device 320-1.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 320-1 may determine whether the beam quality exceeds a threshold value. For example, the terminal device 320-1 may compare the RSRP of one BPL with a threshold RSRP and if the RSRP is below the threshold RSRP, the terminal device 320-1 may generate the beam report which does not include the BPL. In some embodiments, the beam report may comprise N1 BPLs for the network device 310-1 and N2 BPLs for the network device 310-2.

At block 740, the terminal device 320-1 transmits the beam report to the network device 310-1. The beam report may be transmitted via an uplink reference signal. For example, the beam report may be transmitted on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) . Alternatively or in addition, the beam report may be transmitted on the PUSCH.

At block 750, the terminal device 320-1 receives the identity information of the target RX beam from the network device 310-1. For example, the identity information may be transmitted via downlink reference signal on the physical downlink control channel.

Fig. 8 illustrates a flow chart of a method 800 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 800 may be implemented at any suitable devices. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 800 is described to be implemented at the network device 310-2.

At block 810, the network device 310-2 transmits synchronization information to the network device 310-1 so that the network devices 310-1 and 310-2 can synchronize. The synchronization information may comprise cell load of the network device 310-2. Alternatively, the synchronization information may comprise beam pattern of the network device 310-2. It should be noted that the synchronization information may comprise any suitable information which can be used to synchronize the network devices 310-1 and 310-2. The synchronization information may be transmitted via backhaul.

At block 820, the network device 310-2 transmits the second reference signal to the terminal device 320-1. The second reference signal may comprise a CSI-RS. Alternatively or in addition, the second reference signal may comprise a SS. The network device 310-2 may transmit the reference signal using TX beam sweeping. The number of TX beams of the network device 310-2 may be K2.

At block 830, the network device 310-2 receives the identity information of the target TX beam from the network 310-1 via backhaul.

In some embodiments, an apparatus for performing the method 600 (for example, the network device 310-1) may comprise respective means for performing the corresponding steps in the method 600. These means may be implemented in any suitable manners. For example, it can be implemented by circuitry or software modules.

In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for transmitting, from a first device and to a second device, a first reference signal using a transmitting beam sweeping; means for receiving from the second device a beam report generated based on the first reference signal and a second reference signal transmitted from a third device to the second device, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam; and means for determining at least a target receiving beam and a target transmitting beam based on the beam report; and means for transmitting identity information of the target receiving beam to the second device for communications between the first and second devices and/or between the third and the second device.

In some embodiments, the means for determining the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam comprises: means for determining the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam based on one or more of the following: maximum throughput, minimum latency and load balance of communications between the first and second devices and/or between the third and the second device.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for receiving, from the third device, synchronization information comprising at least one of a cell load or a beam pattern of the third device; and means for synchronizing with the third device based on the synchronization information.

In some embodiments, the means for determining the target receiving beam and target transmitting beam based on the beam report comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the third device is congested based on the cell load of the third device, determining the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam from the first set of beam pairs; or means for in accordance with a determination that the first device is congested based on cell load of the first device, determining the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam from the second set of beam pairs.

In some embodiments, the means for determining the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam based on the beam report comprises: means for in response to the beam report indicating that the second device only supports one beam simultaneously, determining a first beam pair from the first set of beam pairs and a second beam pair from the second set of beam pairs based on the beam report; means for determining the target transmitting beam comprising a first transmitting beam in the first beam pair; means for determining a further target transmitting beam comprising a second transmitting beam in the second beam pair; and means for determining the target receiving beam based on the beam report so that beam quality between the target receiving beam and the first transmitting beam and beam quality between the target receiving beam and the second transmitting beam exceeding a threshold quality.

In some embodiments, the means for determining the one target receiving beam and the one target transmitting beam based on the beam report comprises: means for in response to the beam report indicating that the second device supports more than one beam simultaneously, determining a first beam pair from the first set of beam pairs and a second beam pair from the second set of beam pairs based on the beam report; means for determining the target receiving beam comprising a first receiving beam in the first beam pair; means for determining a further target receiving beam comprising a second receiving beam in the second beam pair; means for determining the target transmitting beam comprising a first transmitting beam in the first beam pair; and means for determining a further target transmitting beam comprising a second transmitting beam in the second beam pair .

In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for transmitting identity information of the at least one transmitting beam to the third device.

In some embodiments, the first device comprises a network device, the second device comprises a terminal device and the third device comprises a further network device.

In some embodiments, an apparatus for performing the method 700 (for example, the terminal device 320) may comprise respective means for performing the corresponding steps in the method 700. These means may be implemented in any suitable manners. For example, it can be implemented by circuitry or software modules.

In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a first device, a first reference signal using a receiving beam sweeping; means for receiving, from a third device, a second reference signal using the receiving beam sweeping; means for generating a beam report based on the first reference signal and the second reference signal, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam; means for transmitting the beam report to the first device; and means for receiving, from the first device, identity information of a target receiving beam selected based on the beam report.

In some embodiments, the means for generating the beam report comprises: means for performing beam measurement on the first and second reference signals; and means for generating the beam report based on the beam measurement.

In some embodiments, the beam report further comprises the number of beams that the second device is able to support simultaneously.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for comparing beam quality of a candidate beam pair with a threshold quality; means for in response to the beam quality exceeding the threshold quality, determining the candidate beam pair belonging to the first set of beam pairs.

In some embodiments, an apparatus for performing the method 900 (for example, the network device 310-2) may comprise respective means for performing the corresponding steps in the method 900. These means may be implemented in any suitable manners. For example, it can be implemented by circuitry or software modules.

In some embodiment, the apparatus comprises means for transmitting, from a first device, synchronization information, the synchronization information comprising at least one of: a cell load or a beam pattern of the third device; means for transmitting a second reference signal to a second device, the second reference signal being used for generating a beam report by the second device; and means for receiving, from the first device, identity information of a target transmitting beam selected based on the beam report by the first device.

Fig. 9 is a simplified block diagram of a device 900 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 900 may be provided to implement the communication device, for example the network device 310 or the terminal devices 320 as shown in Fig. 3. As shown, the device 900 includes one or more processors 910, one or more memories 920 coupled to the processor 910, and one or more communication module (for example, transmitters and/or receivers (TX/RX) ) 940 coupled to the processor 910.

The communication module 940 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 940 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements.

The processor 910 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 900 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

The memory 920 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 924, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 922 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

A computer program 930 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 910. The program 930 may be stored in the ROM 924. The processor 910 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 930 into the RAM 922.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 930 so that the device 900 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to Figs. 4 to 8. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

In some embodiments, the program 930 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 900 (such as in the memory 920) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 900. The device 900 may load the program 930 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 922 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any types of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. Fig. 9 shows an example of the computer readable medium 900 in form of CD or DVD. The computer readable medium has the program 930 stored thereon.

Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the

methods

500, 600, 700 and 8005 as described above with reference to Figs. 5-8. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include 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) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A first device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program codes;

the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to:

transmit, from a first device and to a second device, a first reference signal using a transmitting beam sweeping;

receive, from the second device, a beam report generated based on the first reference signal and a second reference signal transmitted from a third device to the second device, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam; determine at least a target receiving beam and a target transmitting beam based on the beam report; and

transmit identity information of the target receiving beam to the second device for communications between the first and second devices and/or between the third and the second device.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to determine the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam further based on one or more of the following: maximum throughput, minimum latency and load balance of communications between the first and second devices and/or between the third and the second device.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to:

receive, from the third device, synchronization information comprising at least one of a cell load or a beam pattern of the third device; and

synchronize with the third device based on the synchronization information.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to determine the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam by:

in accordance with a determination that the third device is congested based on the cell load of the third device, determining the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam from the first set of beam pairs; or

in accordance with a determination that the first device is congested based on cell load of the first device, determining the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam from the second set of beam pairs.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to determine the receiving beam and the transmitting beam by:

in response to the beam report indicating that the second device only supports one beam simultaneously, determining a first beam pair from the first set of beam pairs and a second beam pair from the second set of beam pairs based on the beam report;

determining the target transmitting beam comprising a first transmitting beam in the first beam pair;

determining a further target transmitting beam comprising a second transmitting beam in the second beam pair; and

determining the target receiving beam based on the beam report so that beam quality between the target receiving beam and the first transmitting beam and beam quality between the target receiving beam and the second transmitting beam exceeding a threshold quality.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to determine the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam based on the beam report by:

in response to the beam report indicating that the second device supports more than one beam simultaneously, determining a first beam pair from the first set of beam pairs and a second beam pair from the second set of beam pairs based on the beam report;

determining the target receiving beam comprising a first receiving beam in the first beam pair;

determining a further target receiving beam comprising a second receiving beam in the second beam pair;

determining the target transmitting beam comprising a first transmitting beam in the first beam pair; and

determining a further target transmitting beam comprising a second transmitting beam in the second beam pair.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is further caused to:

transmit identity information of the at least one transmitting beam to the third device.
The first device of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the first device comprises a network device, the second device comprises a terminal device and the third device comprises a further network device.
A second device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program codes;

the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second device to:

receive, from a first device, a first reference signal using a receiving beam sweeping;

receive, from a third device, a second reference signal using the receiving beam sweeping;

generate a beam report based on the first reference signal and the second reference signal, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam;

transmit the beam report to the first device; and

receive, from the first device, identity information of a target receiving beam selected based on the beam report.
The second device of claim 9, wherein the second device is caused to generate the beam report by:

performing beam measurement on the first and second reference signals; and

generating the beam report based on the beam measurement.
The second device of claim 9, wherein the beam report further comprises the number of beams that the second device is able to support simultaneously.
The second device of claim 9, wherein the second device is caused to generate the beam report by:

comparing beam quality of a candidate beam pair with a threshold quality; and

in response to the beam quality exceeding the threshold quality, determining the candidate beam pair belonging to the first set of beam pairs.
The second device of any one of claims 9-12, wherein the first device comprises a network device, the second device comprises a terminal device and the third device comprises a further network device.
A third device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program codes;

the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the third device to:

transmit, from a first device, synchronization information, the synchronization information comprising at least one of: a cell load or a beam pattern of the third device;

transmit a second reference signal to a second device, the second reference signal being used for generating a beam report by the second device; and

receive, from the first device, identity information of a target transmitting beam selected based on the beam report by the first device.
The third device of claim 14, wherein the first device comprises a network device, the second device comprises a terminal device and the third device comprises a further network device.
A method comprising:

transmitting, from a first device and to a second device, a first reference signal using a transmitting beam sweeping;

receiving from the second device a beam report generated based on the first reference signal and a second reference signal transmitted from a third device to the second device, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam;

determining at least a target receiving beam and a target transmitting beam based on the beam report; and

transmitting identity information of the target receiving beam to the second device for communications between the first and second devices and/or between the third and the second device.
The method of claim 16, wherein determining the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam comprises:

determining the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam based on one or more of the following: maximum throughput, minimum latency and load balance of communications between the first and second devices and/or between the third and the second device.
The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving, from the third device, synchronization information comprising at least one of a cell load or a beam pattern of the third device; and

synchronizing with the third device based on the synchronization information.
The method of claim 16, wherein determining the at least one target receiving beam and the at least one target transmitting beam based on the beam report comprises:

in accordance with a determination that the third device is congested based on the cell load of the third device, determining the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam from the first set of beam pairs; or

in accordance with a determination that the first device is congested based on cell load of the first device, determining the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam from the second set of beam pairs.
The method of claim 16, wherein determining the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam based on the beam report comprises:

in response to the beam report indicating that the second device only supports one beam simultaneously, determining a first beam pair from the first set of beam pairs and a second beam pair from the second set of beam pairs based on the beam report;

determining the target transmitting beam comprising a first transmitting beam in the first beam pair;

determining a further target transmitting beam comprising a second transmitting beam in the second beam pair; and

determining the target receiving beam based on the beam report so that beam quality between the target receiving beam and the first transmitting beam and beam quality between the target receiving beam and the second transmitting beam exceeding a threshold quality.
The method of claim 16, wherein determining the target receiving beam and the target transmitting beam based on the beam report comprises:

in response to the beam report indicating that the second device supports more than one beam simultaneously, determining a first beam pair from the first set of beam pairs and a second beam pair from the second set of beam pairs based on the beam report;

determining the target receiving beam comprising a first receiving beam in the first beam pair;

determining a further target receiving beam comprising a second receiving beam in the second beam pair;

determining the target transmitting beam comprising a first transmitting beam in the first beam pair; and

determining a further target transmitting beam comprising a second transmitting beam in the second beam pair.
The method of claim 16, further comprising:

transmitting identity information of the at least one transmitting beam to the third device.
The method of any one of claims 16-23, wherein the first device comprises a network device, the second device comprises a terminal device and the third device comprises a further network device.
A method comprising:

receiving, from a first device, a first reference signal using a receiving beam sweeping;

receiving, from a third device, a second reference signal using the receiving beam sweeping;

generating a beam report based on the first reference signal and the second reference signal, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam;

transmitting the beam report to the first device; and

receiving, from the first device, identity information of a target receiving beam selected based on the beam report.
The method of claim 24, wherein generating the beam report comprises:

performing beam measurement on the first and second reference signals; and

generating the beam report based on the beam measurement.
The method of claim 24, wherein the beam report further comprises the number of beams that the second device is able to support simultaneously.
The method of claim 24, wherein generating the beam report comprises:

comparing beam quality of a candidate beam pair with a threshold quality; and

in response to the beam quality exceeding the threshold quality, determining the candidate beam pair belonging to the first set of beam pairs.
The method of any one of claims 24-27, wherein the first device comprises a network device, the second device comprises a terminal device and the third device comprises a further network device.
A method comprising:

transmitting, from a first device, synchronization information, the synchronization information comprising at least one of: a cell load or a beam pattern of the third device;

transmitting a second reference signal to a second device, the second reference signal being used for generating a beam report by the second device; and

receiving, from the first device, identity information of a target transmitting beam selected based on the beam report by the first device.
The method of claim 29, wherein the first device comprises a network device, the second device comprises a terminal device and the third device comprises a further network device.
An apparatus comprising:

means for transmitting, from a first device and to a second device, a first reference signal using a transmitting beam sweeping;

means for receiving from the second device a beam report generated based on the first reference signal and a second reference signal transmitted from a third device to the second device, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam; and

means for determining at least a target receiving beam and a target transmitting beam based on the beam report; and

means for transmitting identity information of the target receiving beam to the second device for communications between the first and second devices and/or between the third and the second device.
An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving, from a first device, a first reference signal using a receiving beam sweeping;

means for receiving, from a third device, a second reference signal using a receiving beam sweeping;

means for generating a beam report based on the first reference signal and the second reference signal, the beam report at least indicating beam qualities of a first set of beam pairs between the first and second devices and beam qualities of a second set of beam pairs between the third and second devices, each beam pair comprising a receiving beam and a corresponding transmitting beam;

means for transmitting the beam report to the first device; and

means for receiving, from the first device, identity information of a target receiving beam selected based on the beam report.
An apparatus comprising:

means for transmitting, from a first device, synchronization information, the synchronization information comprising at least one of: a cell load or a beam pattern of the third device;

means for transmitting a second reference signal to a second device, the second reference signal being used for generating a beam report by the second device; and

means for receiving, from the first device, identity information of a target transmitting beam selected based on the beam report by the first device.
A computer readable medium storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by at least one processing unit of a machine, causing the machine to perform the method according to any one of claims 16-23.
A computer readable medium storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by at least one processing unit of a machine, causing the machine to perform the method according to any one of claims 24-28.
A computer readable medium storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by at least one processing unit of a machine, causing the machine to perform the method according to any one of claims 29-30.