US Patent 10389504 Reciprocal channel sounding reference signal allocation and configuration

Systems and techniques are disclosed to enhance the efficiency of available bandwidth between UEs and base stations. A UE transmits a sounding reference signal to the base station, which characterizes the uplink channel based on the SRS received and, using reciprocity, applies the channel characterization for the downlink channel. The base station may form the beam to the UE based on the uplink channel information obtained from the SRS. As the downlink channel changes the base station needs updated information to maintain its beamforming, meaning it needs a new SRS. Transmission of the SRS takes resources; to minimize this, the UE or the base station can determine a period during which the downlink channel will predictably remain coherent and set up a schedule for sending SRS. Alternatively, the UE or the base station can determine on demand that the channel is losing coherence and initiate an on demand SRS.