Communication system

Abstract

A communication system is disclosed in which a base station serves a communication area, wherein the communication area is formed by a plurality of directional beams each covering a respective portion of the communication area and each having a different respective beam identifier. The base station communicates control information, for a communication device (UE), using at least one directional beam associated with that communication device (e.g. a UE-specific operational beam set).

1 . A base station for a communication system, wherein the base station comprises:
 a controller and a transceiver;   wherein the controller is configured to control communication in a communication area served by the base station, wherein the communication area is formed by a plurality of directional beams each covering a respective portion of the communication area served by the base station and each having a different respective beam identifier; and   wherein the transceiver is configured to communicate control information, for at least one communication device, using at least one directional beam associated with the at least one communication device.   
     
     
         2 . The base station according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control, for each communication device, a respective operational beam set, OBS, comprising at least one directional beam associated with that communication device. 
     
     
         3 . The base station according to  claim 2 , wherein the transceiver is configured to receive from at least one communication device results of measurements performed on respective reference signals transmitted, via each beam, and wherein the controller is configured to determine each beam in said OBS based on the results of measurements performed on the reference signals. 
     
     
         4 . The base station according to  claim 3 , wherein the transceiver is configured to receive from at least one communication device results of OBS specific measurements (e.g. channel state indicator, CSI, measurements) for beams that are included in the OBS for that at least one communication device. 
     
     
         5 . The base station according to  claim 3  or  4 , wherein the controller is configured to control a handover for a particular communication device based on at least one of: the OBS associated with that communication device and beam specific reference signals. 
     
     
         6 . The base station according to any one of  claims 3  to  5 , wherein the controller is configured to control a co-ordinated multipoint, CoMP, transmission/reception for a particular communication device based on at least one of: the OBS associated with that communication device and beam specific reference signals. 
     
     
         7 . The base station according to any one of  claims 3  to  6 , wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit, via each beam, respective control information comprising reference signals. 
     
     
         8 . The base station according to  claim 7 , wherein the respective reference signals transmitted via each beam are beam specific reference signals. 
     
     
         9 . The base station according to  claim 7  or  8 , wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit the respective reference signals in each beam periodically, using predefined resources (e.g. time/frequency resources). 
     
     
         10 . The base station according to  claim 9 , wherein the predefined resources are specific to a particular beam. 
     
     
         11 . The base station according to  claim 9 , wherein the predefined resources are common to a plurality (e.g. a subset or all) beams. 
     
     
         12 . The base station according to any one of  claims 3  to  11 , wherein the respective reference signals transmitted via each beam depend on the corresponding beam identifier and a cell identifier associated with the communication area. 
     
     
         13 . The base station according to any one of  claims 3  to  11 , wherein resources used for transmitting the respective reference signals via each beam depend on the corresponding beam identifier and a cell identifier associated with the communication area. 
     
     
         14 . The base station according to any one of  claims 1  to  13 , wherein the controller is operable to control a beam configuration associated with the communication area of the base station, and wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit (e.g. broadcast), within the communication area, the beam configuration associated with that communication area. 
     
     
         15 . The base station according to  claim 14 , wherein the beam configuration defines at least one of: a number of beams in the communication area, a beam pattern in the communication area, a respective width associated with each beam, whether a particular beam is turned on or off, resources used for transmitting a reference signal (or a set of reference signals) in a particular beam, resources allocated for random access procedure per beam. 
     
     
         16 . The base station according to any one of  claims 1  to  15 , wherein the transceiver is configured to communicate respective beam specific system information using each directional beam. 
     
     
         17 . The base station according to any one of  claims 1  to  16 , wherein the transceiver is configured to communicate, over each beam, information identifying resources for random access procedure signalling over that beam. 
     
     
         18 . The base station according to  claim 17 , wherein the transceiver is configured to receive, from the at least one communication device over at least one beam, random access procedure signalling using the identified resources. 
     
     
         19 . The base station according to any one of  claims 1  to  18 , wherein the transceiver is configured to apply transmission diversity, for the at least one communication device, using a plurality of directional beams associated with the at least one communication device. 
     
     
         20 . The base station according to any one of  claims 1  to  19 , wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit, using the plurality of directional beams associated with the at least one communication device, signalling which is not specific to the at least one communication device (e.g. RAR message  2  and message  4 , power control, and/or paging). 
     
     
         21 . The base station according to any one of  claims 1  to  20 , comprising a massive antenna for forming a plurality of directional beams. 
     
     
         22 . The base station according to any one of  claims 1  to  21 , comprising a base station of a next generation, NextGen, radio access network. 
     
     
         23 . A communication device for a communication system comprising a base station serving a communication area formed by a plurality of directional beams each covering a respective portion of the communication area and each having a different respective beam identifier, wherein the communication device comprises:
 a controller and a transceiver;   wherein the transceiver is configured to receive control information, from the base station, using at least one directional beam associated with the communication device.   
     
     
         24 . The communication device according to  claim 23 , wherein the at least one directional beam associated with the communication device forms part of an operational beam set, OBS, associated with the communication device in that communication area. 
     
     
         25 . The communication device according to  claim 24 , wherein the controller is configured to perform measurements on respective reference signals transmitted, via each beam, and wherein the transceiver is configured to send the results of the measurements to the base station. 
     
     
         26 . The communication device according to  claim 25 , the controller is configured to perform measurements (e.g. channel state indicator, CSI, measurements) for beams that are included in the OBS for the communication device, and wherein the transceiver is configured to send the results of the measurements to the base station. 
     
     
         27 . The communication device according to any one of  claims 24  to  26 , wherein the controller is operable to control a co-ordinated multipoint, CoMP, transmission/reception via the base station based on at least one of: the OBS associated with the communication device in that communication area and beam specific reference signals. 
     
     
         28 . The communication device according to any one of  claims 23  to  27 , wherein the transceiver is operable to receive, via each beam, respective control information comprising reference signals. 
     
     
         29 . The communication device according to  claim 28 , wherein the respective reference signals in each beam depend on the corresponding beam identifier and a cell identifier associated with the communication area. 
     
     
         30 . The communication device according to  claim 28  or  29 , wherein resources used for receiving the respective reference signals via each beam depend on the corresponding beam identifier and a cell identifier associated with the communication area. 
     
     
         31 . The communication device according to any one of  claims 23  to  30 , wherein when the base station communicates data using transmission diversity, the controller is configured to combine respective data received using each of a plurality of directional beams before decoding the data. 
     
     
         32 . A system comprising the base station according to any one of  claims 1  to  22 , and the communication device according to any one of  claims 23  to  31 . 
     
     
         33 . A method performed by a base station in a communication system, the method comprising:
 controlling communication in a communication area served by the base station, wherein the communication area is formed by a plurality of directional beams each covering a respective portion of the communication area served by the base station and each having a different respective beam identifier; and   communicating control information, for at least one communication device, using at least one directional beam associated with the at least one communication device.   
     
     
         34 . A method performed by a communication device in a communication system comprising a base station serving a communication area formed by a plurality of directional beams each covering a respective portion of the communication area and each having a different respective beam identifier, the method comprising:
 receiving control information, from the base station, using at least one directional beam associated with the communication device.   
     
     
         35 . A computer implementable instructions product comprising computer implementable instructions for causing a programmable communications device to perform the method according to  claim 33  or  34 .