Dynamically beamformed control channel for beamformed cells

A non-transitory memory medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by a processor, wherein the program instructions, when executed by the processor, cause a user equipment (UE) to:

• receive a downlink signal that includes a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, wherein a time-frequency resource domain of the downlink signal includes a plurality of downlink control channels, wherein a first of the plurality of downlink control channels occurs within a first group of one or more OFDM symbols from said plurality of OFDM symbols, wherein a second of the plurality of downlink control channels occurs within a second group of one or more OFDM symbols from said plurality of OFDM symbols,
• wherein first downlink control information has been beamformed using first beamforming parameters, wherein the first downlink control information is received on said first of the plurality of downlink control channels formed from a first set of one or more control channel elements (CCEs) with a localized or distributed mapping between resource element groups (REGs) and CCEs, wherein each of the REGs of said first of the plurality of downlink control channels spans a range of one OFDM symbol duration and 12 frequency subcarriers, wherein resource elements are reserved for only one REG within its respective range;
• and
• wherein second downlink control information has been beamformed using second beamforming parameters, wherein the second downlink control information is received on said second of the plurality of downlink control channels.

An apparatus comprising a processor configured to cause a user equipment (UE) to:

• receive a downlink signal that includes a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, wherein a time-frequency resource domain of the downlink signal includes a plurality of downlink control channels, wherein a first of the plurality of downlink control channels occurs within a first group of one or more OFDM symbols from said plurality of OFDM symbols, wherein a second of the plurality of downlink control channels occurs within a second group of one or more OFDM symbols from said plurality of OFDM symbols,
• wherein first downlink control information has been beamformed using first beamforming parameters, wherein the first downlink control information is received on said first of the plurality of downlink control channels formed from a first set of one or more control channel elements (CCEs) with a localized or distributed mapping between resource element groups (REGs) and CCEs, wherein each of the REGs of said first of the plurality of downlink control channels spans a range of one OFDM symbol duration and 12 frequency subcarriers, wherein resource elements are reserved for only one REG within its respective range;
• and
• wherein second downlink control information has been beamformed using second beamforming parameters, wherein the second downlink control information is received on said second of the plurality of downlink control channels.