A rapid initial beam establishment method using material sensing in joint communications and sensing systems

Authors: Yi Geng
Status: Final
Date of publication: 11 March 2025
Published in: ITU Journal on Future and Evolving Technologies, Volume 6 (2025), Issue 1, Pages 67-75
Article DOI : https://doi.org/10.52953/NCBI9988

Abstract:
Communication systems operating in high frequency bands typically utilize narrow beams to compensate significant path loss. However, achieving beam alignment between the transmitter and receiver is extremely time-consuming due to the large number of beam directions associated with narrow beams. This latency in initial beam establishment poses a significant challenge to the deployment of future 6G networks, which operate in high frequency bands. To tackle this problem, this paper proposes a novel initial beam establishment method that uses the material sensing results from joint communications and sensing systems. Specifically, by exploiting pre-identified material information of environmental reflectors, the proposed method predicts the Reflection Loss (RL) induced by each reflector. The base station prioritizes scanning directions associated with lower RL, establishing connections immediately without the need to sweep through remaining beam directions. This approach significantly reduces the latency of initial beam establishment, thereby enhancing the performance and efficiency of 6G networks.

Keywords: Beam sweeping, initial beam establishment, joint communications and sensing, material identification, reflection loss
Rights: © International Telecommunication Union, available under the CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO license.