Beam squint mitigation methods for a reflected beam from an intelligent reflecting surface

A method of wireless communication at a node, comprising:

• identifying a node configuration including one or more surface phase configurations associated with the node;
• and
• forwarding, from a base station to a user equipment (UE), or from the UE to the base station, one or more wireless signals, wherein the forwarded one or more wireless signals are associated with a beam squint less than a first threshold, and at least one of:
• identifying a length or a width of an enabled subarea of an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) panel associated with the node based on a minimization of a function, and the function is associated with at least one of a delay spread associated with the one or more wireless signals, a bandwidth associated with the one or more wireless signals, a penalty term, a total energy reflected by the IRS panel, or an area of the enabled subarea of the IRS,
• selecting and enabling one of a plurality of IRS panels for forwarding the one or more wireless signals such that a difference between an angle of incidence at the node associated with the one or more wireless signals and an angle of reflection at the node associated with the one or more wireless signals is less than a second threshold, or
• wherein the node is associated with the plurality of IRS panels or a plurality of IRS panel subareas concurrently enabled for forwarding the one or more wireless signals, the one or more surface phase configurations include a plurality of surface phase configurations for the plurality of IRS panels or the plurality of IRS panel subareas, and each of the plurality of IRS panels or the plurality of IRS panel subareas is associated with a respective one of the plurality of surface phase configurations based on a respective part of the bandwidth associated with the one or more wireless signals.

An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising:

• memory;
• and
• at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:
• transmit, to a node, an indication of a node configuration including one or more surface phase configurations associated with the node;
• and
• communicate with a user equipment (UE) via the node based on one or more wireless signals reflected from the node, wherein the reflected one or more wireless signals are associated with a beam squint less than a first threshold, and at least one of:
• identify, prior to transmitting the indication of the node configuration, that the one or more wireless signals are associated with an unmitigated beam squint that is greater than a second threshold, the second threshold being greater than the first threshold;
• based on the node configuration, a size of an enabled subarea of an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) panel associated with the node along a plane of signal propagation is less than a third threshold and a length or a width of the enabled subarea of the IRS panel associated with the node is configured to be identified based on a minimization of a function, and the function is associated with at least one of a delay spread associated with the one or more wireless signals, a bandwidth associated with the one or more wireless signals, a penalty term, a total energy reflected by the IRS panel, or an area of the enabled subarea of the IRS;
• wherein the node is associated with a plurality of intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) panels, and based on the node configuration, one of the plurality of IRS panels is active for forwarding the one or more wireless signals such that a difference between an angle of incidence at the node associated with the one or more wireless signals and an angle of reflection at the node associated with the one or more wireless signals is less than a fourth threshold, or
• wherein the node is associated with the plurality of IRS panels or a plurality of IRS panel subareas concurrently enabled for forwarding the one or more wireless signals, the one or more surface phase configurations include a plurality of surface phase configurations for the plurality of IRS panels or the plurality of IRS panel subareas, and each of the plurality of IRS panels or the plurality of IRS panel subareas is associated with a respective one of the plurality of surface phase configurations based on a respective part of the bandwidth associated with the one or more wireless signals.

A method of wireless communication at a base station, comprising:

• transmitting, to a node, an indication of a node configuration including one or more surface phase configurations associated with the node;
• and
• communicating with a user equipment (UE) via the node based on one or more wireless signals reflected from the node, wherein the reflected one or more wireless signals are associated with a beam squint less than a first threshold, and at least one of:
• identifying, prior to transmitting the indication of the node configuration, that the one or more wireless signals are associated with an unmitigated beam squint that is greater than a second threshold, the second threshold being greater than the first threshold;
• based on the node configuration, a size of an enabled subarea of an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) panel associated with the node along a plane of signal propagation is less than a third threshold and a length or a width of the enabled subarea of the IRS panel associated with the node is configured to be identified based on a minimization of a function, and the function is associated with at least one of a delay spread associated with the one or more wireless signals, a bandwidth associated with the one or more wireless signals, a penalty term, a total energy reflected by the IRS panel, or an area of the enabled subarea of the IRS;
• wherein the node is associated with a plurality of intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) panels, and based on the node configuration, one of the plurality of IRS panels is active for forwarding the one or more wireless signals such that a difference between an angle of incidence at the node associated with the one or more wireless signals and an angle of reflection at the node associated with the one or more wireless signals is less than a fourth threshold, or
• wherein the node is associated with the plurality of IRS panels or a plurality of IRS panel subareas concurrently enabled for forwarding the one or more wireless signals, the one or more surface phase configurations include a plurality of surface phase configurations for the plurality of IRS panels or the plurality of IRS panel subareas, and each of the plurality of IRS panels or the plurality of IRS panel subareas is associated with a respective one of the plurality of surface phase configurations based on a respective part of the bandwidth associated with the one or more wireless signals.