Beam Misalignment in 3GPP mmWave NR

Abstract: This paper presents an analytical framework for evaluating beam misalignment in 3GPP mmWave NR systems implementing analog beamforming. Our approach captures the interaction between user mobility, beam sweeping mechanisms, and deployment configurations, focusing on long-term average performance metrics. Specifically, we model the beam misalignment rates at both the base station (BS) and user equipment (UE) as Poisson processes and derive expressions for the expected misalignment duration, misalignment fraction, and overall beamforming gain. The framework accounts for practical constraints in NR such as Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSB) periodicity, TDD frame structures, and SSB overhead. Through numerical evaluation based on 3GPP mmWave parameters, we identify key trade-offs between beam counts, user mobility, and SSB timing, providing actionable design insights for robust and efficient beam management in future high-frequency networks.