Selection of beamforming directions based on learned performance

Apparatus of user equipment (UE) configurable for millimeter-wave (mmW) uplink transmission beamforming, the apparatus comprising:

• memory;
• and
• processing circuitry to configure the UE to:
• determine a current location of the UE;
• read a beam-finding map that associates a plurality of locations with corresponding beam directions previously determined to be operative to direct an uplink transmission from those locations to a recipient device;
• in response to the beam-finding map having at least one beam direction operative from the current location to the recipient device, select a first beam direction from the beam-finding map based on the current location;
• and
• initiate the uplink transmission to be directed along the first beam direction to establish a connection with the recipient device.

Apparatus of radio access network (RAN) base station configurable for millimeter-wave (mmW) beam-formed radio communications with user equipment (UEs) within a service area, the apparatus comprising:

• memory;
• and
• processing circuitry to configure the base station to:
• maintain an uplink beam-finding map that associates a plurality of locations within the service area, with corresponding beam directions previously determined to be operative for UEs in those locations to direct uplink transmissions to the base station;
• and
• receive updates to the beam-finding map from the UEs in the service area, the updates including locations and corresponding beam directions selected by respective UE devices for uplink transmissions to the base station;
• incorporate the updates into the uplink beam-finding map;
• and
• disseminate the uplink beam-finding map to the UEs in the service area.

At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on processing circuitry of an apparatus of user equipment (UE) configurable for millimeter-wave (mmW) uplink transmission beamforming, cause the apparatus to:

• determine a current location of the UE;
• read a beam-finding map that associates a plurality of locations with corresponding beam directions previously determined to be operative to direct uplink transmission from those locations to a recipient device;
• in response to the beam-finding map having at least one beam direction operative from the current location to the recipient device, select a first beam direction from the beam-finding map based on the current location;
• and
• initiate the uplink transmission to be directed along the first beam direction to establish a connection with the recipient device.

At least one machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on processing circuitry of an apparatus of a radio access network (RAN) base station configurable for millimeter-wave (mmW) beam-formed radio communications with user equipment (UE) devices within a service area, cause the apparatus to:

• maintain an uplink beam-finding map that associates a plurality of locations within the service area, with corresponding beam directions previously determined to be operative for UEs in those locations to direct uplink transmissions to the base station;
• and
• receive updates to the beam-finding map from the UEs in the service area, the updates including locations and corresponding beam directions selected by respective UE devices for uplink transmissions to the base station;
• incorporate the updates into the uplink beam-finding map;
• and
• disseminate the uplink beam-finding map to the UEs in the service area.