Methods and apparatus to support enhanced random access procedure in nr system with beamforming

An apparatus, comprising circuitry configured to:

• determine a transmission (Tx) beam format or a reception (Rx) beam format for communication between the apparatus and a remote entity during a random access process between the apparatus and the remote entity in a wireless communication system employing beamforming techniques according to historical operations and channel reciprocity availability that includes one or more of,
• Tx/Rx channel reciprocity availability of the apparatus,
• Tx/Rx channel reciprocity availability of the remote entity,
• whether a Rx beam measurement process is performed at the apparatus,
• whether a remote best Tx beam known from the Rx beam measurement process is reported to the remote entity,
• whether a Tx beam measurement process is performed at the apparatus, and
• whether a local best Tx beam known from the Tx beam measurement is received from the remote entity;
• and
• transmit or receive a random access message (RAM) exchanged between the apparatus and the remote entity according to the determined Tx beam format or Rx beam format, respectively.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

• determining a transmission (Tx) beam format or a reception (Rx) beam format for communication between a local entity and a remote entity during a random access process between the local entity and the remote entity in a wireless communication system employing beamforming techniques according to historical operations and channel reciprocity availability that includes one or more of,
• Tx/Rx channel reciprocity availability of the local entity,
• Tx/Rx channel reciprocity availability of the remote entity,
• whether a Rx beam measurement process is performed at the local entity,
• whether a remote best Tx beam known from the Rx beam measurement process is reported to the remote entity,
• whether a Tx beam measurement process is performed at the local entity, and
• whether a local best Tx beam known from the Tx beam measurement is received from the remote entity;
• and
• transmitting or receiving a random access message (RAM) exchanged between the local entity and the remote entity according to the determined Tx beam format or Rx beam format, respectively.