Multi-beam operation for random access transmission in a mobile radio communication network

A network node including:

• a processor;
• and
• a transceiver in communication with the processor and configured to:
• transmit simultaneously in a plurality of beams and over a plurality of sub-carriers, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing Signal (OFDM) modulated signal comprising control information for use in a network access procedure, wherein each of the plurality of beams is represented by at least one of the sub-carriers comprising the control information and wherein the plurality of beams are defined to cover a predetermined area, wherein each beam has a polarization or coverage area that is different from the other beams;
• and
• upon failing to receive further control information for use in the network access procedure in a first transmission, receive the further control information re-transmitted using a different beam direction while maintaining a same transmit power.

A computer program product for enabling network access in a radio communication network, the computer program product comprising:

• a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a set of codes for causing a computer to:
• transmit simultaneously in a plurality of beams and over a plurality of sub-carriers, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing Signal (OFDM) modulated signal comprising control information for use in a network access procedure, wherein each of the plurality of beams is represented by at least one of the sub-carriers comprising the control information and wherein the plurality of beams are defined to cover a predetermined area, such that each beam has a polarization or coverage area that is different from the other beams;
• and
• upon failing to receive further control information for use in the network access procedure in a first transmission, receive the further control information re-transmitted using a different beam direction while maintaining a same transmit power.

A method for network access in a radio communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving, from a network node, control information for use in a network access procedure, wherein the control information is transmitted, from the network node, simultaneously in a plurality of beams and over a plurality of sub-carriers in an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated signal;
• and
• determining a beam direction used for transmitting the received control information based on one or more sub-carriers comprising the control information;
• in response to determining the beam direction, transmitting, to the network node, further control information for use in the network access procedure;
• and
• in response to the network node failing to receive the further control information, re-transmitting the further control information using a different beam direction while maintaining a same transmit power.

A network node including:

• a processor;
• and
• a transceiver in communication with the processor and configured to receive, from a second network node, control information for use in a network access procedure, wherein the control information is transmitted, from the second network node, simultaneously in a plurality of beams and over a plurality of sub-carriers in an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated signal,
• wherein the processor is configured to determine a beam direction used for transmitting the received control information based on one or more sub-carriers comprising the control information,
• wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit, to the second network node, further control information for use in the network access procedure, and
• wherein, in response the second network node failing to receive the further control information, the transceiver is configured to re-transmit the further control information using a different beam direction while maintaining a same transmit power.