Abstract: A method and apparatus determine a transmission beam for downlink transmissions, and provides first beamforming instructions for forming the transmission beam to a transmission path. The method and apparatus also determine at least one receiving beam that is a first receiving beam, and at least one receiving beam that is a second receiving beam. A first antenna sub-array is configured to provide a first plurality of concurrent receiving beams and a second antenna sub-array is configured to provide a second plurality of concurrent receiving beams, providing second beamforming instructions, for forming at least the first receiving beam and at least the second receiving beams, to a first receiving path and a second receiving path, respectively.

Abstract: A method includes obtaining elevation angle information for a plurality of user devices, wherein the elevation angle information includes, for each of the plurality of user devices, a best or preferred beam elevation angle used or applied by a network node for communication with the user device; estimating an elevation angle distribution for the plurality of user devices based on the collected elevation angle information; determining, based on the elevation angle distribution, a set of analog beamforming weights to be used for hybrid beamforming, wherein each analog beamforming weight of the set of analog beamforming weights is associated with an analog elevation angle; and adjusting the set of analog beamforming weights based on at least one of a set of pre-tilt angle beamforming weights or an estimated (or an estimate of) mechanical downtilt angle.

Abstract: A method and apparatus determine a transmission beam for downlink transmissions, and provides first beamforming instructions for forming the transmission beam to a transmission path. The method and apparatus also determine at least one receiving beam that is a first receiving beam, and at least one receiving beam that is a second receiving beam. A first antenna sub-array is configured to provide a first plurality of concurrent receiving beams and a second antenna sub-array is configured to provide a second plurality of concurrent receiving beams, providing second beamforming instructions, for forming at least the first receiving beam and at least the second receiving beams, to a first receiving path and a second receiving path, respectively.

Abstract: A method comprises selecting a beam to be scheduled for a slot that is upcoming, and selecting a terminal device to be scheduled in the selected beam. Selection of the terminal device is based on the terminal device considering the selected beam as its best beam. Physical resource blocks are allocated to the terminal device, and a beam configuration to be used for the selected beam is chosen based in part on user traffic and load distribution. A switching event is triggered. The switching event comprises producing the chosen beam configuration by providing a beamforming command and using a control line controlling a switch network comprised in phase shifters to steer the beam. The phase shifters are comprised in a radio frequency front-end unit comprising a plurality of antenna columns. The phase shifters are placed in front of selected antenna sub-arrays comprised in the plurality of antenna columns.

Abstract: Various example embodiments may relate to link adaptation. An apparatus may determine a first signal quality estimate for a signal. The apparatus may further determine a BLER estimate based on acknowledgements or decoding results for data blocks of the signal. The apparatus may further determine a second signal quality estimate for the signal based on the BLER estimate. The apparatus may further determine a signal quality offset based on a difference between the first signal quality estimate and the second signal quality estimate. The apparatus may further determine transmission parameter(s) for at least one subsequent data block based on the first signal quality estimate and the signal quality offset.

Abstract: An apparatus including: a MIMO antenna for transmitting beamformed signals on a plurality of beams using a common frequency- and time-limited physical channel resource; circuitry for computing a beamforming gain of each beam in each sub-sector in a coverage area of said plurality of beams; circuitry for determining a beam dominance region of each beam within the coverage area of said plurality of beams; circuitry for determining, within the dominance region of each beam, an average of the beamforming gain of each of the other beams at least partially co-locating within said beam dominance region; circuitry for determining inter-beam interference estimations as an average interference of each beam from each of said other beams; and circuitry for scheduling transmissions of the beams by said MIMO antenna on said common frequency- and time-limited physical channel resource based on said inter-beam interference estimations.

Abstract: According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus for performing the following. The apparatus is configured to, first, allocate one or more of a plurality of available physical resource blocks to a plurality of terminal devices, wherein the allocating is performed so that a power spectral density for the plurality of terminal devices matches or exceeds a pre-defined limit or a plurality of respective pre-defined limits for power spectral density. In response to one or more physical resource blocks being still available following said allocating, the apparatus is configured to further allocate at least one of the one or more physical resource blocks still available to at least one of the plurality of terminal devices, wherein the further allocating is performed so that at least a pre-defined value for a modulation and coding scheme index is sustainable for said at least one of the plurality of terminal devices.

Abstract: A method comprises selecting a beam to be scheduled for a slot that is upcoming, and selecting a terminal device to be scheduled in the selected beam. Selection of the terminal device is based on the terminal device considering the selected beam as its best beam. Physical resource blocks are allocated to the terminal device, and a beam configuration to be used for the selected beam is chosen based in part on user traffic and load distribution. A switching event is triggered. The switching event comprises producing the chosen beam configuration by providing a beamforming command and using a control line controlling a switch network comprised in phase shifters to steer the beam. The phase shifters are comprised in a radio frequency front-end unit comprising a plurality of antenna columns. The phase shifters are placed in front of selected antenna sub-arrays comprised in the plurality of antenna columns.

Abstract: According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus for performing the following. The apparatus is configured to, first, allocate one or more of a plurality of available physical resource blocks to a plurality of terminal devices, wherein the allocating is performed so that a power spectral density for the plurality of terminal devices matches or exceeds a pre-defined limit or a plurality of respective pre-defined limits for power spectral density. In response to one or more physical resource blocks being still available following said allocating, the apparatus is configured to further allocate at least one of the one or more physical resource blocks still available to at least one of the plurality of terminal devices, wherein the further allocating is performed so that at least a pre-defined value for a modulation and coding scheme index is sustainable for said at least one of the plurality of terminal devices.

Abstract: An apparatus comprising: a MIMO antenna for transmitting beamformed signals on a plurality of beams using a common frequency- and time-limited physical channel resource; means for computing a beamforming gain of each beam in each sub-sector in a coverage area of said plurality of beams; means for determining a beam dominance region of each beam within the coverage area of said plurality of beams; means for determining, within the dominance region of each beam, an average of the beamforming gain of each of the other beams at least partially co-locating within said beam dominance region; means for determining inter-beam interference estimations as an average interference of each beam from each of said other beams; and means for scheduling transmissions of the beams by said MIMO antenna on said common frequency- and time-limited physical channel resource based on said inter-beam interference estimations.

Abstract: Various example embodiments may relate to link adaptation. An apparatus may determine a first signal quality estimate for a signal. The apparatus may further determine a BLER estimate based on acknowledgements or decoding results for data blocks of the signal. The apparatus may further determine a second signal quality estimate for the signal based on the BLER estimate. The apparatus may further determine a signal quality offset based on a difference between the first signal quality estimate and the second signal quality estimate. The apparatus may further determine transmission parameter(s) for at least one subsequent data block based on the first signal quality estimate and the signal quality offset.

Abstract: An apparatus, method and computer program is described above: determining a coupling gain for a user device within a cell of a mobile communication system; comparing the determined coupling gain with a coupling gain threshold; setting the user device to operate in a device-specific CSI-RS mode of operation in the event that the determined coupling gain is less than the coupling gain threshold, wherein, in the device-specific CSI-RS mode of operation, the user device is configured to use device-specific reference signal transmissions for the determination of channel state information; and setting the user device to operate in a cell-specific CSI-RS mode of operation in the event that the determined coupling gain is not less than the coupling gain threshold, wherein, in the cell-specific CSI-RS mode of operation, the user device is configured to use cell-specific reference signal transmissions for the determination of channel state information.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to compressed channel state information transfer. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the radio unit at the base station receives signals from the terminal device. The radio unit (RU) compresses the signal based on the weights of beams and transmits the compressed signal to the baseband unit (BBU) at the base station. The baseband unit reconstructs the channel based on the compressed signal and the coefficients. In this way, the amount of information conveyed across the RU-BBU interface is reduced, and the accuracy of channel estimation is improved. Further, the sounding reference signal (SRS) channel can be obtained at the BBU with reduced number of SRS transmissions.

Abstract: A method and base station for optimizing a data rate control value for a wireless communication device in a communication network system is provided. The method comprises receiving (304) a data rate control value from a wireless communication device. Further, the method comprises determining (306) a data transfer rate, based on the data rate control value. Moreover, the method comprises optimizing (308) the data rate control value by using a set of parameters, which is based on feedback from the wireless communication device.