Fast directional cell acquisition and differential beam tracking in millimeter-wave cellular system with hybrid beamforming architecture

For cell acquisition a UE receives concurrently from a base station (BS), during a single time symbol, a cell ID via a plurality of electromagnetic beams that include data signals and spatial-frequency multiplexed orthogonal synchronization signals, the beams having different angles of arrival. The UE processes the beams to determine the identity of the beam that was received with maximum signal strength and the angle of arrival of the beam, and transmits the identity and the angle of arrival to the BS. For beam tracking the UE similarly receives a plurality of the same beams but including reference signals, each beam transmitted at the same power and received at different angles of arrival. The plurality of beams comprise a central beam and pairs of beams on either side of the central beam, the pairs respectively arranged at differing equal angles of arrival from the central beam. The UE processes the beams in parallel to track movement of the UE by determining the identity of the beam received with maximum signal strength and the angle of arrival of the beam, by using the central beam and the pairs of beams. The UE transmits the identity and the angle of arrival to the BS.