Interference-aware uplink power control

Abstract

A method may include receiving, from a serving network element, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The method may also include obtaining information of the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication. The method may further include determining an uplink transmission power based on the obtained information of the at least one power component. The method may also include performing an uplink transmission based on the determined uplink transmission power.

Description

TITLE:INTERFERENCE- AW ARE UPLINK POWER CONTROLFIELD:

[0001] Some example embodiments may generally relate to mobile or wireless telecommunication systems, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) or fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) access technology, or 5G beyond, or sixth generation (6G) access technology, or other communications systems. For example, certain example embodiments may relate to interference- aware uplink (UL) power control.BACKGROUND:

[0002] Examples of mobile or wireless telecommunication systems may include the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Long Term Evolution (LTE) Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), LTE- Advanced (LTE-A), MulteFire, LTE-A Pro, fifth generation (5G) radio access technology or new radio (NR) access technology and / or sixth generation (6G) radio access technology. Fifth generation (5G) and sixth generation (6G) wireless systems refer to the next generation (NG) of radio systems and network architecture. 5G and 6G network technology is mostly based on new radio (NR) technology, but the 5G / 6G (or NG) network can also build on E-UTRAN radio. It is estimated that NR may provide bitrates on the order of 10-20 Gbit / s or higher, and may support at least enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) as well as massive machine-type communication (mMTC). NR is expected to deliver extreme broadband and ultra-robust, low-latency connectivity and massive networking to support the Internet of Things (loT).SUMMARY:

[0003] Some example embodiments may be directed to a method. The method may be performed by a user equipment. The method may include receiving, from a serving network element, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that shouldbe considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The method may also include obtaining information of the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication. The method may further include determining an uplink transmission power based on the obtained information of the at least one power component. Additionally, the method may include performing an uplink transmission based on the determined uplink transmission power.

[0004] Other example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus. The apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the apparatus at least to receive, from a serving network element, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The apparatus may also be caused to obtain information of the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication. The apparatus may further be caused to determine an uplink transmission power based on the obtained information of the at least one power component. Additionally, the method may include performing an uplink transmission based on the determined uplink transmission power.

[0005] Other example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus. The apparatus may include means for receiving, from a serving network element, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The apparatus may also include means for obtaining information of the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication. The apparatus may further include means for determining an uplink transmission power based on the obtained informationof the at least one power component. Additionally, the apparatus may include means for performing an uplink transmission based on the determined uplink transmission power.

[0006] In accordance with other example embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium may be encoded with instructions that may, when executed in hardware, perform a method. The method may be performed by a user equipment. The method may include receiving, from a serving network element, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The method may also include obtaining information of the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication. The method may further include determining an uplink transmission power based on the obtained information of the at least one power component. Additionally, the method may include performing an uplink transmission based on the determined uplink transmission power.

[0007] Other example embodiments may be directed to a computer program product that performs a method. The method may be performed by a user equipment. The method may include receiving, from a serving network element, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The method may also include obtaining information of the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication. The method may further include determining an uplink transmission power based on the obtained information of the at least one power component. Additionally, the method may include performing an uplink transmission based on the determined uplink transmission power.

[0008] Other example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus that may includecircuitry configured to receive from a serving network element, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The apparatus may also include circuitry configured to obtain information of the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication. The apparatus may further include circuitry configured to determine an uplink transmission power based on the obtained information of the at least one power component. Additionally, the apparatus may include circuitry configured to perform an uplink transmission based on the determined uplink transmission power.

[0009] Further example embodiments may be directed to a method. The method may include transmitting, to a user equipment, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The method may also include receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink transmission based on an uplink transmission power determined from information of the at least one power component.

[0010] Other example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus. The apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to transmit, to a user equipment, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The apparatus may also be caused to receive, from the user equipment, an uplink transmission based on an uplink transmission power determinedfrom information of the at least one power component.

[0011] Other example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus. The apparatus may include means for transmitting, to a user equipment, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The apparatus may also include means for receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink transmission based on an uplink transmission power determined from information of the at least one power component.

[0012] In accordance with other example embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium may be encoded with instructions that may, when executed in hardware, perform a method. The method may include transmitting, to a user equipment, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The method may also include receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink transmission based on an uplink transmission power determined from information of the at least one power component.

[0013] Other example embodiments may be directed to a computer program product that performs a method. The method may include transmitting, to a user equipment, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The method may also include receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink transmission based on an uplink transmission power determined from information of the at least one power component.

[0014] Other example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus that may include circuitry configured to a user equipment, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The apparatus may also include circuitry configured to receive, from the user equipment, an uplink transmission based on an uplink transmission power determined from information of the at least one power component.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

[0015] For proper understanding of example embodiments, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates an example signal flow diagram, according to certain example embodiments.

[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of another signal flow diagram, according to certain example embodiments.

[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a further signal diagram, according to certain example embodiments.

[0019] FIG. 4 illustrates another example signal flow diagram of when correction to an uplink (UL) Tx power is determined in the network, according to certain example embodiments.

[0020] FIG. 5 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method, according to certain example embodiments.

[0021] FIG. 6 illustrates an example flow diagram of another method, according to certain example embodiments.

[0022] FIG. 7 illustrates a set of apparatuses, according to certain example embodiments.DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

[0023] It will be readily understood that the components of certain example embodiments, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. The following is a detailed description of some example embodiments of systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for interference-aware uplink (UL) power control.

[0024] The features, structures, or characteristics of example embodiments described throughout this specification may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more example embodiments. For example, the usage of the phrases “certain embodiments,” “an example embodiment,” “some embodiments,” or other similar language, throughout this specification refers to the fact that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in certain embodiments,” “an example embodiment,” “in some embodiments,” “in other embodiments,” or other similar language, throughout this specification do not necessarily refer to the same group of embodiments, and the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more example embodiments. Further, the terms “base station”, “cell”, “node”, “gNB”, “network” or other similar language throughout this specification may be used interchangeably.

[0025] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or,” mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0026] In the specifications of 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP), power control for uplink channel, such as for example, new radio (NR) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), may be based on a combination of open-loop power control and closed- loop power control. Open-loop power control may include support for fractional pathloss (PL) compensation, where a user equipment (UE) estimates an uplink (UL) PL based on downlink (DL) measurements, and sets a transmit power accordingly. Closed- loop power control may be based on explicit transmit power-control (TPC) commands provided by the network. According to 3 GPP, the UE may determine the PUSCHtransmission power, and the UE may be indie ated / determine closed-loop parameters (e.g., closed-loop index, TPC command), and open-loop parameters (e.g., PL reference signal (RS), pO, and alpha). The TPC command may be carried in downlink control information (DCI) scheduling the PUSCH transmission. Additionally, the TPC command (and corresponding closed- loop index) may be jointly carried to multiple UEs by means of group-common DCI using, e.g., DCI format 2-2.

[0027] For NR PUSCH power control, the main power control parameters that the PUSCH transmission power may depend on may include, but not limited to, for example: closed-loop index (e.g., power control (PC) adjustment state); TPC command; PL reference RS; pO (target power level at the gNB); alpha (for partial of full PL compensation; represents a value between 0 and 1, and is the fractional power control factor); and / or DELTA_TF (power adjustment component. DELTA_TF models how the required received power varies when the number of information bits per resource element (BPRE) changes due to different modulation schemes and channel-coding rates.

[0028] 3 GPP provides an open- loop fractional power control (FPC) procedure where the UE’s transmit power may depend on its measured PL from its serving cell. It may be assumed that UEs with a larger serving cell PL will have a smaller neighbor cell PL and, thus, cause a larger interference at the UEs’ neighbor cell. When a fraction (e.g., alpha is less than 1) of PL is compensated, an Rx power at the gNB may decrease when PL increases. As such, transmissions of UEs close to the cell center may be received at a higher power and they may use a higher modulation coding scheme (MCS) than cell edge UEs.

[0029] A channel gain to a neighbor cell may be taken into account in a signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) target equation shown as equation (1):where gi / g’i is the channel gain ratio to the own cell and to neighboring cells. The channel gain ratio may be replaced with pathloss ratio to own cell and to neighboringcells i.e. (pl_other / pl_own). The alpha parameter can be used to balance cell center to cell edge users in the same way as in NR fractional power control. Po / C defines target signal level at the gNB when channel gain ratio is 1, and I+No is the interference + noise level at the gNB receiver.

[0030] Equation (1) may be modified to determine UE Tx power by adding a term presenting PL to the UE’s own cell. If interference and noise are assumed to be constant and included in the Po, channel gains may be replaced with PL values to the own and neighbor / other cells, and a logarithmic scale may be used as shown in equation (2):PUL — Po + (1 )P own T ^P^other (2)

[0031] The assumption that UEs with a larger serving cell PL will have a smaller neighbor cell PL and, thus, cause a larger interference at the neighbor cell may not always hold true. This is because the shadow fading and fast-fading gains for the serving cell and neighboring cells may be significantly different from each other. Additionally, a UE may be close to the serving cell, but have a high PL (e.g., when the UE is in the basement of a building with high penetration loss). In this scenario, TX power of the UE may be increased without causing interference to the neighboring cells.

[0032] The interference that a UE generates to neighbor cells may vary due to several reasons, for example, during low load in the neighbor cell, the neighbor cell may be switched off or the bandwidth that is used for UL may be reduced. Additionally, for network energy saving purposes, the neighbor cell may be configured to have a cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) / discontinuous reception (DRX) pattern, which may result in the neighbor cell having time periods when it is not receiving uplink channel such as for example, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) / physical control channel (PUCCH) transmissions. Adapting Tx power of the UE depending on the situation in the neighbor cell can be beneficial and certain example embodiments may provide ways to implement interference aware UL PC at the UE, while taking into consideration the amount of interference that is observed in the neighbor cells in various situations.

[0033] FIG. 1 illustrates an example signal flow diagram, according to certain example embodiments. At 110, the network 100 configures the UE 105 with a list oftransmission configuration indicator (TCI) states. The list of TCI states may each be associated or include information indicative of which / whether at least one PL component corresponding to at least one (neighboring) cell should be accounted for in UL Tx power determination. At 115, the network 100 transmits an indication to the UE 105 of a (UL / joint) TCI state from the list of TCI states. At 120, the UE calculates PL based on the PL of the serving cell, and PL component(s) of at least one (neighboring) cell according to the information associated with the indicated TCI state. At 125, the UE 105 determines UL Tx power at least partially based on the calculated PL. At 130, the UE 105 performs UL transmission to the network 100 based on the determined UL Tx power.

[0034] Certain example embodiments may provide a power control formula for uplink channel or signal, such as for example, PUSCH, PUCCH, and / or sounding reference signal (SRS), power control. The formula may be adapted by adding at least one term corresponding to or to reflect PL to neighboring cell(s) to the 3GPP UL PC formula. The modified UL PC formula may relate to the required UL Tx power, and a simplified form including mainly relevant PL terms may be expressed as equation (3), where M and f(i) denote the number of resource blocks and TPC, respectively:PUL PQ "1” P OlgM T CtPLownT Ct-^P Pother, 1 "b ^2.P Pother, 2 "b f (0(3).

[0035] As shown in equation (3), the UL PC formula may include one or more ax*PLother,x terms to consider PL to multiple neighbor cells. Alternatively, at least one factor or component may be added to PL0Wn to reflect PL from at least one other cell. As described herein, the component(s) may reflect the PL from other cells or the interference from / to other cells. Additionally or alternatively, the component(s) may represent an UL power component or power offset.

[0036] According to certain example embodiments, it may be possible for the network to configure or activate / deactivate, through a higher layer signaling such as for example, a radio resource control (RRC) message or a system information block (SIB), the applicability of the one or more additional power components, terms, and / or factors corresponding to the PL of other / neighboring cells. In example embodiments, thepower component may be at least one of a pathloss, a power offset, or a reference signal received power (RSRP) (e.g., LI or L3). For instance, the network (e.g., gNB) may configure the UE with at least one (other) cell (e.g., through corresponding cell identifiers) for which the power component (or in another words, PL component) is to be considered by the UE. Alternatively or additionally, the gNB may transmit to the UE, through downlink control information (DCI) or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), an indication indicative of one or more cells for which the UE may consider (or not consider) at least one corresponding PL component.

[0037] According to certain example embodiments, the network may transmit an indication to the UE, via SIB, RRC, DCI or MAC CE, which indicates an activation or deactivation of PL component(s) corresponding to at least one cell. Alternatively, or additionally, the gNB may configure or indicate to the UE, at least one time period during which the UE considers or measures, or does not consider or measure the PL component(s) corresponding to at least one cell.

[0038] In certain example embodiments, the UE may be configured by the network via SIB, RRC, DCI or MAC CE, to indicate at least one or more of whether at least one PL component corresponding to at least one cell should be considered, which PL component(s) (or, a type of the PL component(s)) should be considered, and / or for which one or more cells the UE should consider or measure a PL component. In an example embodiment, the configuration information is associated or included under a TCI state. In certain example embodiments, a TCI state may include or may be associated with more than one reference signal. In certain example embodiments, one or more reference signals may correspond to respective one or more cells.

[0039] According to certain example embodiments, the UE may determine to consider or measure a PL component corresponding to another cell depending on whether the corresponding measured signal is above a threshold or not above a threshold. For example, the threshold may correspond to whether RSRP (e.g., LI or L3) measurements, or cross-link interference measurement(s), are above a threshold. If the RSRP measurements, or cross-link interference measurement(s), are above the threshold, the UE may consider or measure the PL component in the determination of the required Tx power, or the UE may apply a RSRP dependent correction factor.Otherwise, the UE may not consider the neighbor cell dependent corrections to the Tx power. In certain example embodiments, the threshold may be configured by the network, and such configuration may be via RRC.

[0040] In certain example embodiments, the UE may be indicated or configured with time periods wherein there is no RS transmission(s) from other cells. For example, there may be no RS transmissions due to the cell DTX. When there are no RS transmissions during such time periods, the UE may not measure or may not consider the PL component(s) corresponding to the other cell(s).

[0041] In certain example embodiments, the UE may be indicated or configured with at least one time period wherein the RS power(s) from the other cell(s) has changed (e.g., due to power or spatial domain adaptation). In such time periods where the RS power(s) from the other cell(s) has changed, the UE may measure or may consider PL component(s) corresponding to the other cell(s) assuming the corresponding applicable RS power(s). In certain example embodiments, the UE may be indicated or configured with at least one time period where an energy saving state or mode is applicable, and / or at least one time period during which a spatial / power setting (e.g., of at least one reference signal) from the at least one cell has changed.

[0042] In some example embodiments, a UE may be configured or associated with association(s) between respective RS patterns or periodicities, and a plurality of time windows. The association(s) may be referred to as a time pattern. For example, for an RS pattern or periodicity, the UE may consider RS occasions in at least one associated time window for LI or L3 measurements (e.g., RSRP or pathloss measurements), or more generally, for CSI measurements. The RS pattern(s) may correspond to one or more of: at least one time resource; at least one time-domain resource allocation; at least one frequency resource; at least one frequency-domain resource allocation; at least one spatial resource; at least one RS power level or power offset; a periodicity; a number or a set or subset of RSs (such as SSB, CSI-RS, DMRS, etc.) or RS resources; a number or a set or subset of (active) spatial elements (e.g., CSI-RS resources, CSI-RS ports, antenna elements, panels, etc.), or a number of RSs.

[0043] In certain example embodiments, the association(s) may be received by the UE at least via RRC signaling (or even via MAC CE, DCI, or SI), and a change of the RSconfiguration may be determined based on the association(s). In an example embodiment, there may be a plurality of associations, each of which may indicate a mapping between at least one SSB periodicity (as an example of an RS pattern or periodicity) and at least one time window. If one of the associations is received / obtained by the UE, the UE may determine that the corresponding / applicable SSB periodicity (or more generally, RS pattern) and the corresponding at least one time window, or portion of the at least one time window, will be used or assumed or considered for the LI or L3 measurements (e.g., RSRP or pathloss measurements), or more generally for CSI measurements. Accordingly, a changed association may indicate a changed SSB periodicity.

[0044] In some example embodiments, the network may transmit, to the UE, a second indication for updating, activating or deactivating the association. Correspondingly, the UE may receive the second indication, and based on the received second indication, the UE may determine that the association is updated, activated or deactivated. After the determination, the UE may update, activate or deactivate the corresponding RS pattern or periodicity and the time window.

[0045] In some example embodiments, the association may be selected from a plurality of associations. The network may transmit, to the UE an indication that the association from the plurality of associations is applicable. Correspondingly, the UE may receive the third indication. Based on the received third indication, the UE may determine that indicated association is applied to perform LI or L3 measurements, or more generally CSI measurements.

[0046] In some example embodiments, the time pattern(s) (or association(s)) may be configured or indicated per cell, or per cell group, per BWP (bandwidth part), per BWP group, per carrier, per carrier group, per component carrier, or per component carrier group. In some example embodiments, the time pattern(s) (or association(s)) may correspond to at least one active cell, at least one active BWP, at least one active carrier, or at least one active component carrier. In some example embodiments, the time pattern(s) (or association(s)) may correspond to at least one neighboring cell (e.g., at least one cell with a PCI (physical cell identifier) different from the serving cell PCI). In some example embodiments, the time pattern(s) (or association(s)) may correspondto at least one flexible duplexing (such as sub-band full duplex, time division duplexing, etc.) pattern or configuration. In some example embodiments, the UE may measure CSI, e.g., in form of (LI or L3) RSRP (or even CQI (channel quality indicator), PMI (precoding matrix indicator), SINR (signal to interference plus noise ratio), CLI (cross link interference) measurement(s), etc.) in the different time windows / intervals (and thus based on corresponding RS occasions or resources) according to respective applicable RS patterns.

[0047] According to some example embodiments, the gNB (e.g., serving gNB) may transmit an indication to the UE which indicates a power component value (e.g., power offset, pathloss, or pathloss offset) that reflects the interference from / to other cells. According to certain example embodiments, the interference may be estimated by the (other) gNBs from the UL transmissions to the serving gNB.

[0048] In some example embodiments, one power component value (e.g., power offset or pathloss or pathloss offset) may reflect the joint effects corresponding to multiple cells / gNBs, or different power component values may be considered for different cells. In certain example embodiments, at least one power component value (e.g., power offset or pathloss or pathloss offset) corresponding to at least one cell may be indicated from the network to the UE. For instance, at least one power component value (e.g., power offset or pathloss or pathloss offset) corresponding to at least one (other) cell may be indicated or updated via DCI or MAC CE. In other example embodiments, the at least one power component value (e.g., power offset or pathloss or pathloss offset) corresponding to at least one (other) cell may be associated to or included under the TCI state; also here, the at least one power component value (e.g., power offset or pathloss or pathloss offset) may be indicated or updated via DCI or MAC CE. In further example embodiments, when the UE determines or receives an indication that at least one cell is deactivated, in a dormant state, or in a cell discontinuous reception (DRX) state for a time period, the UE may set the corresponding power offset, pathloss, or pathloss offset, if any, to 0, at least for the time period. In further example embodiments, when at least one cell is configured with a flexible duplexing pattern (such as sub-band full duplex, time division duplexing, etc.), respective one or more power component values (e.g., pathloss values, power offsets, or pathloss offsets) are or can be set to different valuesin different time periods of the pattern.

[0049] In certain example embodiments, power component value(s) corresponding to neighbor cells may be determined based on, for example, UE measurements of DL signal from the neighbor cells. The UE measurements may include, for example, mobility related measurements, timing advance and timing advance difference measurements, or some artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) algorithms. In other example embodiments, it may be possible for the network to estimate the power component value(s), e.g., based on uplink measurement, and signal the estimated power component value(s) to the UE.

[0050] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of another signal flow diagram, according to certain example embodiments. In particular, FIG. 2 illustrates a solution where the UE applies power component value(s) corresponding to neighboring cells in an UL Tx power control procedure. At 220, the UE 200 receives a configuration associated with power component corresponding to neighboring cells from the serving cell 205. At 225 and 230, the serving cell 205 respectively receives a cell on / off (pattern) indication via the backhaul from the closest neighbor cell 210 and the second closest neighbor cell 215. At 235, the serving cell 205 indicates to the UE 200 the cell on / off status of the neighbor cells received from the closest neighbor cell 210 and the second closest neighbor cell 215. At 240 and 245, the UE 200 respectively receives and measures downlink signal from the closest neighbor cell 210 and the second closest neighbor cell 215 to obtain corresponding power component value(s). At 250, the UE 200 performs UL transmission to the serving cell 205. According to certain example embodiments, the Tx power of the UL transmission to the serving cell 205 may be set based on the configured power component, the cell on / off status of the neighbor cells, and the power component value(s) corresponding to the neighbor cells.

[0051] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the status of the neighbor cells (e.g., if the cell is switched on / off, if they are applying a DRX pattern, or if the cell is not using some frequency resources for UL) is indicated via backhaul signaling to the serving cell 205. The serving cell 205 may then inform the UE about the status of the neighbor cells to the UE, and the UE may take this information into account when determining power component value(s), e.g., ax*PLother,x values. For example, ai*PLother,i could refer to thepathloss to the closest or dominant neighbor cell 210, and a.2*PLother,2 could refer to the second closest neighbor cell 215. When the closest neighbor cell 210 is not operational (e.g., the cell is in the off state or cell DRX off state), ai = 0 and some configured nonzero ci2 value may be used by the UE. In some example embodiments, alpha values may be set so that a + ai + a.2 = 1.

[0052] According to certain example embodiments, the UE may determine power component value, e.g., PL to neighbor cells, by measuring RSRP (or cross-link interference measurement(s)) of, for example, a synchronization signal block (SSB). The UE can calculate PL by knowing the Tx power of the SSB of the neighbor cell, and the physical cell identity (PCI) of the neighbor cell. The PLs to the own cell and neighbor cells may be calculated using the PL values estimated on the same type of RSs from the serving and the interfering cells. According to some example embodiments, the RSRP measurement-based PL determination may be used when the UE is performing neighbor cell measurements.

[0053] In certain example embodiments, the PL to neighbor cells may also be determined from a timing advance (TA). Lor example, TA may be considered if a propagation delay from the UE to its own cell is Town (in typical case Town = TA / 2), and a propagation delay difference between the own cell and the neighbor cell is Tdiff (UE may determine Tdiff by comparing receive time difference of SSB from own cell and from neighbor cell). The PL ratio may then be represented as: (Town + Tdiff) / T0Wn. In certain example embodiments, this method may be used when cells in the network are synchronized. In other example embodiments, the TA ratio may be calculated using the TA values estimated on the same type of reference signals from the serving and the interfering cells.

[0054] According to certain example embodiments, a cell may be configured with a cell DTX / DRX pattern. For instance, when the cell is in a cell DRX active state, the cell is not receiving UL transmission. However, in some instances, the cell in DRX active state may receive UL transmissions in some channels such as, for example, physical random access channel (PRACH). During the neighbor cell DRX active state, transmissions from the UEs may use higher power. As illustrated in FIG. 2, in some example embodiments, the cell DRX pattern in the neighbor cell (e.g., neighbor cells210, 215) may be indicated to the serving cell via backhaul, and then to the UE. With the received information, the UE may switch between two different UL power control parameter sets.

[0055] In certain example embodiments, some cells in the network may be used to increase capacity, and some of the cells may be needed to provide coverage. The capacity cells may be switched on and off depending on the load of the network. For instance, sometimes the off periods may be long (e.g., at night), but it may also be possible that the cell on / off switching occurs more dynamically.

[0056] According to certain example embodiments, the serving cell may be aware of the neighbor cell on / off or cell DRX patterns, and the serving cell may understand why the UE Tx power varies. According to some example embodiments, the gNB may also schedule UL transmissions with different MCS depending on the cell on / off state, or the cell DRX active and non-active periods of the neighbor or cell. According to certain example embodiments, if the UE knows the interference plus noise (I + No) by, for example, based on signaling from the gNB, in equation (1), and the PL to the gNB (own cell), the UE may calculate the SINR at the gNB. To limit the maximum UE Tx power, the gNB may indicate to the UE a maximum SINR target value. For example, the gNB may support reception of 256 QAM in UL but not 1024 QAM. In this example scenario, the UE Tx power may be limited to reduce interference and save the UE battery by not transmitting at too high of a power level. If the distance to the closest neighbor cell is high, the UL Tx power may result in an unnecessarily high Tx power. However, if the maximum UE Tx power is limited based on the maximum MCS supported by the gNB, high UE Tx power levels may be avoided.

[0057] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a further signal diagram, according to certain example embodiments. In particular, the signal diagram in FIG. 3 illustrates a scenario where the UE 300 applies an RSRP dependent correction to the UL Tx power control. In this example embodiment, the UE may apply a correction or reduction to the power obtained by power control formula depending on the measured RSRP of the neighbor cell. The PC equation may have at least the following components shown in equation (4):PUL = Po + lOlgM + aPLown~ RSRP + 7(0 (4).As shown in equation (4), the XRSRP parameter may represent a parameter that depends on the measured RSRP of the neighbor cell. If the RSRP is above configured threshold, the UE may apply an RSRP dependent reduction to the Tx power.

[0058] At 315 of FIG. 3, the UE 300 receives configuration associated with power component corresponding to neighboring cells from the serving cell 305. In certain example embodiments, the configuration may include an RSRP threshold. At 320, the UE 300 receives and measures RSRP from the neighbor cell 310. At 325, the UE 300 performs UL transmission to the serving cell 305. The UL transmission may be based on a modified Tx power setting. In certain example embodiments, the Tx power setting may be modified by adding a parameter that reduces the Tx power depending on the measured RSRP corresponding to the neighbor cell 310.

[0059] In other example embodiments, the correction term to the UE’s Tx power to manage interference may be determined at the serving cell. For instance, FIG. 4 illustrates another example signal flow diagram of when correction to the UL Tx power is determined in the network, according to certain example embodiments. At 420, the UE 400 receives configuration associated with power component corresponding to neighboring cells from the serving cell 405. At 425, the UE 400 performs UL transmission (e.g., SRS) to the first neighbor cell 410 that is measured in the neighbor cells, and the same (or some other) SRS is also transmitted and measured in 2ndneighbor cell at 430. In certain example embodiments, dedicated or shared reference signals (such as SRS) may be configured or indicated for the purpose of measurements at neighboring cells or serving cell, where corresponding SRS configuration may be provided (by the serving cell indicating or configuring or triggering SRS transmission(s)) to the cell(s) to measure this SRS(s). At 435, the first neighbor cell 410 transmits signal level measurement results to the serving cell 405, and the second neighbor cell 415 also transmits signal level measurement results to the serving cell 405 at 440. At 445, the serving cell 405 determines a correction factor to the UE Tx power based on the measurement reports from the neighbor cell 410 and / or 415. At 450, the UE 400 applies the Tx power correction to the transmissions to the serving cell 405.

[0060] FIG. 5 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method, according to certain example embodiments. In an example embodiment, the method of FIG. 5 may be performed by a network entity, or a group of multiple network elements in a 3 GPP system, such as LTE or 5G-NR. For instance, in an example embodiment, the method of FIG. 5 may be performed by a UE, similar to one of apparatuses 10 or 20 illustrated in FIG. 7.

[0061] As illustrated in FIG. 5, the method may include, at 500 receiving, from a serving network element, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The method may also include, at 505, obtaining information of the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication. The method may further include, at 510, determining an uplink transmission power based on the obtained information of the at least one power component. Additionally, the method may include, at 515, performing an uplink transmission based on the determined uplink transmission power.

[0062] According to certain example embodiments, the type of the at least one power component may include a pathloss, a power offset, a pathloss offset, or a reference signal received power. According to some example embodiments, the indication may be received in at least one of a radio resource control message, a downlink control information, a medium access control control element, or a system information block. According to other example embodiments, the indication may be associated with or included in a transmission configuration indicator state information.

[0063] In certain example embodiments, the transmission configuration indicator state information may include or may be associated with more than one reference signals and the more than one reference signals correspond to respective one or more cells. In some example embodiments, the transmission configuration indicator state information may include or may be associated with one or more pathloss values, pathloss offsets, or power offsets, and the one or more pathloss values, pathloss offsets, or power offsetsmay correspond to respective one or more cells. In other example embodiments, the indication may indicate at least one time period during which the at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. In further example embodiments, the at least one time period is associated with at least one of a discontinuous reception pattern of the at least one cell, a discontinuous transmission pattern of the at least one cell, an on / off status of the at least one cell, at least one time period during which a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, at least one time period during which a spatial setting of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, or at least one time period where an energy saving state or mode is applicable.

[0064] According to certain example embodiments, the method may also include determining whether to consider the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication. According to some example embodiments, the method may further include receiving, from the serving network element, information regarding at least one of a discontinuous reception pattern of the at least one cell, a discontinuous transmission pattern of the at least one cell, an on / off status of the at least one cell, at least one time period during which a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, at least one time period during which a spatial setting of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, or at least one time period where an energy saving state or mode is applicable. According to other example embodiments, the determining whether to consider the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one neighbor cell is further based on the received information.

[0065] In certain example embodiments, the method further comprises measuring at least one reference signal from the at least one cell. In some example embodiments, the determination to consider the at least one power component may be in response to the measured power of the reference signal being larger than or equal to a threshold. In other example embodiments, the method may further include receiving the threshold from the serving network element. In further example embodiments, the obtaining information of the at least one power component may include at least one of measuring a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell, or calculating at least onepathloss based on at least one reference signal from the at least one cell.

[0066] According to certain example embodiments, the obtaining information of the at least one power component may include receiving from the serving network element at least one of a pathloss value, a power offset value, or a pathloss offset value. According to some example embodiments, the at least one of the pathloss value, the power offset value, or the pathloss offset value may be determined based on an uplink signal transmitted by the user equipment. According to other example embodiments, the at least one of the pathloss value, the power offset value, or the pathloss offset value may be received in a downlink control information or a medium access control control element.

[0067] In certain example embodiments, the power offset value may be associated with one cell or multiple cells. In some example embodiments, the method may further include determining that at least one cell among the one or more cells is deactivated, in a dormant state, or in a cell discontinuous reception state at least for a time period. In other example embodiments, the method may also include setting respective at least one power component value to zero or to a certain value at least for the time period. In certain example embodiments, setting respective at least one power component value to zero or to a certain value at least for the time period may correspond to a case where if one neighboring cell is configured with a sub-band full duplex (SBFD) or time division duplex (TDD), the pathloss value or pathloss offset or power offset may be different in slots which supports DL and UL (for SBFD), or DL (in case of TDD), compared to slots which supports UL only (in case of SBFD), or UL (in case of TDD). In further example embodiments, the method may also include determining that at least one cell among the one or more cells is configured with a flexible duplexing pattern, and setting respective at least one power component value to different values in different time periods of the flexible duplexing pattern.

[0068] FIG. 6 illustrates an example flow diagram of a further method, according to certain example embodiments. In an example embodiment, the method of FIG. 6 may be performed by a network entity, or a group of multiple network elements in a 3 GPP system, such as LTE or 5G-NR. For instance, in an example embodiment, the method of FIG. 6 may be performed by a NW or gNB, similar to one of apparatuses 10 or 20illustrated in FIG. 7.

[0069] As illustrated in FIG. 6, the method may include, at 600, transmitting, to a user equipment, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The method may also include, at 605, receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink transmission based on an uplink transmission power determined from information of the at least one power component.

[0070] According to certain example embodiments, the type of the at least one power component may include a pathloss, a power offset, a pathloss offset, or a reference signal received power. According to some example embodiments, the indication may be transmitted in at least one of a radio resource control message, a downlink control information, a medium access control control element, or a system information block. According to other example embodiments, the indication may be associated with or included in a transmission configuration indicator state information. According to further example embodiments, the transmission configuration indicator state information may include or may be associated with more than one reference signals and the more than one reference signals correspond to respective one or more cells.

[0071] In certain example embodiments, the transmission configuration indicator state information may include or may be associated with one or more pathloss values, pathloss offsets, or power offsets. In some example embodiments, the one or more pathloss values, pathloss offsets, or power offsets may correspond to respective one or more cells. In other example embodiments, the indication may indicate at least one time period during which the at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. In further example embodiments, the at least one time period is associated with at least one of a discontinuous reception pattern of the at least one cell, a discontinuous transmission pattern of the at least one cell, an on / off status of the at least one cell, at least one time period during which a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, at least one time period duringwhich a spatial setting of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, or at least one time period where an energy saving state or mode is applicable.

[0072] According to certain example embodiments, the method may also include transmitting, to the user equipment, information regarding at least one of a discontinuous reception pattern of the at least one cell, a discontinuous transmission pattern of the at least one cell, an on / off status of the at least one cell, at least one time period during which a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, at least one time period during which a spatial setting of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, or at least one time period where an energy saving state or mode is applicable. According to some example embodiments, the method may further include transmitting, to the user equipment, a threshold related to a measured power of a reference signal. According to other example embodiments, the at least one of the pathloss value, the power offset value, or the pathloss offset value may be determined based on an uplink signal transmitted by the user equipment. According to further example embodiments, the at least one of the pathloss value, the power offset value, or the pathloss offset value may be transmitted in a downlink control information or a medium access control control element.

[0073] In certain example embodiments, the power offset value may be associated with one cell or multiple cells. In some example embodiments, the method may also include receiving, from the at least one cell among the one or more cells, a signal level measurement result. In other example embodiments, the method may further include determining, based on the signal level measurement result, a correction factor to the uplink transmission power of the user equipment.

[0074] FIG. 7 illustrates a set of apparatuses 10 and 20 according to certain example embodiments. In certain example embodiments, apparatuses 10 and 20 may be elements in a communications network or associated with such a network. For example, apparatus 10 may be a UE, or other similar radio communication computer device, and apparatus 20 may be a BS, gNB, LMF, network, or other similar computing device.

[0075] In some example embodiments, apparatuses 10 and 20 may include one or more processors, one or more computer-readable storage medium (for example, memory, storage, or the like), one or more radio access components (for example, a modem, atransceiver, or the like), and / or a user interface. In some example embodiments, apparatuses 10 and 20 may be configured to operate using one or more radio access technologies, such as GSM, LTE, LTE-A, NR, 5G, WLAN, WiFi, NB-IoT, Bluetooth, NFC, MulteFire, and / or any other radio access technologies. It should be noted that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that apparatuses 10 and 20 may include components or features not shown in FIG. 7.

[0076] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 7, apparatuses 10 and 20 may include or be coupled to a processor 12 and 22 for processing information and executing instructions or operations. Processors 12 and 22 may be any type of general or specific purpose processor. In fact, processors 12 and 22 may include one or more of general-purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as examples. While a single processor 12 and 22 is shown in FIG. 7, multiple processors may be utilized according to other example embodiments. For example, it should be understood that, in certain example embodiments, apparatuses 10 and 20 may include two or more processors that may form a multiprocessor system (e.g., in this case processors 12 may represent a multiprocessor) that may support multiprocessing. According to certain example embodiments, the multiprocessor system may be tightly coupled or loosely coupled (e.g., to form a computer cluster).

[0077] Processors 12 and 22 may perform functions associated with the operation of apparatuses 10 and 20 including, as some examples, precoding of antenna gain / phase parameters, encoding and decoding of individual bits forming a communication message, formatting of information, and overall control of the apparatuses 10 and 20, including processes and examples illustrated in FIGs. 1-6.

[0078] Apparatuses 10 and 20 may further include or be coupled to a memories 14 and 24 (internal or external), which may be respectively coupled to processors 12 and 24 for storing information and instructions that may be executed by processors 12 and 24. Memories 14 and 24 may be one or more memories and of any type suitable to the local application environment, and may be implemented using any suitable volatile or nonvolatile data storage technology such as a semiconductor-based memory device, amagnetic memory device and system, an optical memory device and system, fixed memory, and / or removable memory. For example, memories 14 and 24 can be comprised of any combination of random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), static storage such as a magnetic or optical disk, hard disk drive (HDD), or any other type of non-transitory machine or computer readable media. The instructions stored in memories 14 and 24 may include program instructions or computer program code that, when executed by processors 12 and 22, enable the apparatuses 10 and 20 to perform tasks as described herein.

[0079] In certain example embodiments, apparatuses 10 and 20 may further include or be coupled to (internal or external) a drive or port that is configured to accept and read an external computer readable storage medium, such as an optical disc, USB drive, flash drive, or any other storage medium. For example, the external computer readable storage medium may store a computer program or software for execution by processors 12 and 22 and / or apparatuses 10 and 20 to perform any of the methods and examples illustrated in FIGs. 1-6.

[0080] In some example embodiments, apparatuses 10 and 20 may also include or be coupled to one or more antennas 15 and 25 for receiving a downlink signal and for transmitting via an UL from apparatuses 10 and 20. Apparatuses 10 and 20 may further include a transceivers 18 and 28 configured to transmit and receive information. The transceivers 18 and 28 may also include a radio interface (e.g., a modem) coupled to the antennas 15 and 25. The radio interface may correspond to a plurality of radio access technologies including one or more of GSM, LTE, LTE-A, 5G, NR, WLAN, NB-IoT, Bluetooth, BT-LE, NFC, RFID, UWB, and the like. The radio interface may include other components, such as filters, converters (for example, digital-to-analog converters and the like), symbol demappers, signal shaping components, an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) module, and the like, to process symbols, such as OFDMA symbols, carried by a downlink or an UL.

[0081] For instance, transceivers 18 and 28 may be configured to modulate information on to a carrier waveform for transmission by the antennas 15 and 25 and demodulate information received via the antenna 15 and 25 for further processing by other elements of apparatuses 10 and 20. In other example embodiments, transceivers 18 and 28 maybe capable of transmitting and receiving signals or data directly. Additionally or alternatively, in some example embodiments, apparatus 10 may include an input and / or output device (I / O device). In certain example embodiments, apparatuses 10 and 20 may further include a user interface, such as a graphical user interface or touchscreen.

[0082] In certain example embodiments, memories 14 and 34 store software modules that provide functionality when executed by processors 12 and 22. The modules may include, for example, an operating system that provides operating system functionality for apparatuses 10 and 20. The memory may also store one or more functional modules, such as an application or program, to provide additional functionality for apparatuses 10 and 20. The components of apparatuses 10 and 20 may be implemented in hardware, or as any suitable combination of hardware and software. According to certain example embodiments, apparatuses 10 and 20 may optionally be configured to communicate each other (in any combination) via a wireless or wired communication links 70 according to any radio access technology, such as NR.

[0083] According to certain example embodiments, processors 12 and 22 and memories 14 and 24 may be included in or may form a part of processing circuitry or control circuitry. In addition, in some example embodiments, transceivers 18 and 28 may be included in or may form a part of transceiving circuitry.

[0084] For instance, in certain example embodiments, apparatus 10 may be controlled by memory 14 and processor 12 to receive, from a serving network element, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. Apparatus 10 may also be controlled by memory 14 and processor 12 to obtain information of the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication. Apparatus 10 may further be controlled by memory 14 and processor 12 to determine an uplink transmission power based on the obtained information of the at least one power component. Apparatus 10 may also be controlled by memory 14 and processor 12 to perform an uplink transmission based on thedetermined uplink transmission power.

[0085] In other example embodiments, apparatus 20 may be controlled by memory 24 and processor 22 to transmit, to a user equipment, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. Apparatus 20 may also be controlled by memory 24 and processor 22 to receive, from the user equipment, an uplink transmission based on an uplink transmission power determined from information of the at least one power component.

[0086] In some example embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., apparatus 10 and / or apparatus 20) may include means for performing a method, a process, or any of the variants discussed herein. Examples of the means may include one or more processors, memory, controllers, transmitters, receivers, and / or computer program code for causing the performance of the operations.

[0087] Certain example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus that includes means for performing any of the methods described herein including, for example, means for receiving, from a serving network element, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The apparatus may also include means for obtaining information of the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication. The apparatus may further include means for determining an uplink transmission power based on the obtained information of the at least one power component. The apparatus may also include means for performing an uplink transmission based on the determined uplink transmission power.

[0088] Other example embodiments may be directed to an apparatus that includes means for performing any of the methods described herein including, for example, means fortransmitting, to a user equipment, an indication indicating at least one of whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control. The apparatus may also include means for receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink transmission based on an uplink transmission power determined from information of the at least one power component.

[0089] Certain example embodiments described herein provide several technical improvements, enhancements, and / or advantages. For instance, in some example embodiments, it may be possible to provide a flexible and efficient way to enable interference aware UL power control; and, for example, taking into account, for the L1 / L3 measurements (and more generally, CSI measurements), configuration(s), mode(s), scheme(s), or pattern(s) applicable in interferred cells. In other example embodiments, compared to current factional PC, interference to the other cells may be taken into account more accurately. In further example embodiments, UL power control may include interference control tools in the specification level instead of just being a network implementation issue with limited capabilities. In addition, the solutions of certain example embodiments may enable dynamic and flexible UL power control correction / adjustment (including large ones if needed) from the network (e.g., based on measuring (UL) interference at the serving cell), and may also provide tools to enable such interference measurements.

[0090] A computer program product may include one or more computer-executable components which, when the program is run, are configured to carry out some example embodiments. The one or more computer-executable components may be at least one software code or portions of it. Modifications and configurations required for implementing functionality of certain example embodiments may be performed as routine(s), which may be implemented as added or updated software routine(s). Software routine(s) may be downloaded into the apparatus.

[0091] As an example, software or a computer program code or portions of it may be in a source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form, and it may bestored in some sort of carrier, distribution medium, or computer readable medium, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. Such carriers may include a record medium, computer memory, read-only memory, photoelectrical and / or electrical carrier signal, telecommunications signal, and software distribution package, for example. Depending on the processing power needed, the computer program may be executed in a single electronic digital computer or it may be distributed amongst a number of computers. The computer readable medium or computer readable storage medium may be a non-transitory medium.

[0092] In other example embodiments, the functionality may be performed by hardware or circuitry included in an apparatus (e.g., apparatus 10 or apparatus 20), for example through the use of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable gate array (PGA), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or any other combination of hardware and software. In yet another example embodiment, the functionality may be implemented as a signal, a non-tangible means that can be carried by an electromagnetic signal downloaded from the Internet or other network.

[0093] According to certain example embodiments, an apparatus, such as a node, device, or a corresponding component, may be configured as circuitry, a computer or a microprocessor, such as single-chip computer element, or as a chipset, including at least a memory for providing storage capacity used for arithmetic operation and an operation processor for executing the arithmetic operation.

[0094] One having ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that the disclosure as discussed above may be practiced with procedures in a different order, and / or with hardware elements in configurations which are different than those which are disclosed. Therefore, although the disclosure has been described based upon these example embodiments, it would be apparent to those of skill in the art that certain modifications, variations, and alternative constructions would be apparent, while remaining within the spirit and scope of example embodiments. Although the above embodiments refer to 5G NR and LTE technology, the above embodiments may also apply to any other present or future 3GPP technology, such as LTE-advanced, and / or fourth generation (4G) technology.

[0095] Partial Glossary:

[0096] 3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project

[0097] 5G 5 th Generation

[0098] 5GCN 5G Core Network

[0099] 5GS 5G System

[0100] BS Base Station

[0101] BW Bandwidth

[0102] CC Component Carrier

[0103] DCI Downlink Control Information

[0104] DL Downlink

[0105] DRX Discontinuous Reception

[0106] DTX Discontinuous Transmission

[0107] eNB Enhanced Node B

[0108] E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN

[0109] gNB 5G or Next Generation NodeB

[0110] LTE Long Term Evolution

[0111] NR New Radio

[0112] PC Power Control

[0113] PL Pathloss

[0114] PRACH Physical Random- Access Channel

[0115] PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

[0116] PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0117] RSRP Reference Signal Received Power

[0118] SRS Sounding Reference Signal

[0119] SSB Synchronization Signal Block

[0120] TCI Transmission Configuration Indicator

[0121] UE User Equipment

[0122] UL Uplink

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1. A method, comprising: by a user equipment, receiving, from a serving network element, an indication indicating at least one of the following: whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control; obtaining information of the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication; determining an uplink transmission power based on the obtained information of the at least one power component; and performing an uplink transmission based on the determined uplink transmission power.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the type of the at least one power component comprises a pathloss, a power offset, a pathloss offset, or a reference signal received power.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the indication is received in at least one of a radio resource control message, a downlink control information, a medium access control control element, or a system information block.

4. The method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the indication is associated with or included in a transmission configuration indicator state information.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the transmission configuration indicator state information comprises or is associated with more than one reference signals and the more than one reference signals correspond to respective one or more cells.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the transmission configuration indicator state information comprises or is associated with one or more pathloss values, pathloss offsets, or power offsets, and wherein the one or more pathloss values, pathloss offsets, or power offsets correspond to respective one or more cells.

7. The method according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the indication indicates at least one time period during which the at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the at least one time period is associated with at least one of the following: a discontinuous reception pattern of the at least one cell, a discontinuous transmission pattern of the at least one cell, an on / off status of the at least one cell, at least one time period during which a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, at least one time period during which a spatial setting of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, or at least one time period where an energy saving state or mode is applicable.

9. The method according to any of claims 1 to 8, further comprising: determining whether to consider the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: receiving, from the serving network element, information regarding at least one of a discontinuous reception pattern of the at least one cell, a discontinuous transmission pattern of the at least one cell, an on / off status of the at least one cell, at least one time period during which a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, at least one time period during which a spatial setting of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, or at least one time period where an energy saving state or mode is applicable.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the determining whether to consider the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one neighbor cell is further based on the received information.

12. The method according to any of claims 9 to 11, further comprising: measuring at least one reference signal from the at least one cell, and wherein the determination to consider the at least one power component is in response to the measured power of the reference signal being larger than or equal to a threshold.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: receiving the threshold from the serving network element.

14. The method according to any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the obtaining information of the at least one power component comprises at least one of the following: measuring a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell, or calculating at least one pathloss based on at least one reference signal from the at least one cell.

15. The method according to any of claims 1 to 14, wherein the obtaining information of the at least one power component comprises receiving from the serving network element at least one of a pathloss value, a power offset value, or a pathloss offset value.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the at least one of the pathloss value, the power offset value, or the pathloss offset value is determined based on an uplink signal transmitted by the user equipment.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the at least one of the pathloss value, the power offset value, or the pathloss offset value is received in a downlink control information or a medium access control control element.

18. The method according to any of claims 15 to 17, wherein the power offset value is associated with one cell or multiple cells.

19. The method according to any of claims 1 to 18, further comprising: determining that at least one cell among the one or more cells is deactivated, in a dormant state, or in a cell discontinuous reception state at least for a time period; and setting respective at least one power component value to zero or to a certain value at least for the time period.

20. The method according to any of claims 1 to 19, further comprising: determining that at least one cell among the one or more cells is configured with a flexible duplexing pattern; and setting respective at least one power component value to different values in different time periods of the flexible duplexing pattern.

21. A method, comprising: transmitting, to a user equipment, an indication indicating at least one of the following:whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control; and receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink transmission based on an uplink transmission power determined from information of the at least one power component.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the type of the at least one power component comprises a pathloss, a power offset, a pathloss offset, or a reference signal received power.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the indication is transmitted in at least one of a radio resource control message, a downlink control information, a medium access control control element, or a system information block.

24. The method according to any of claims 21 to 23, wherein the indication is associated with or included in a transmission configuration indicator state information.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the transmission configuration indicator state information comprises or is associated with more than one reference signals and the more than one reference signals correspond to respective one or more cells.

26. The method according to claims 24 or 25, wherein the transmission configuration indicator state information comprises or is associated with one or more pathloss values, pathloss offsets, or power offsets, and wherein the one or more pathloss values, pathloss offsets, or power offsets correspond to respective one or more cells.

27. The method according to any of claims 21 to 26, wherein the indication indicates at least one time period during which the at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the at least one time period is associated with at least one of the following: a discontinuous reception pattern of the at least one cell, a discontinuous transmission pattern of the at least one cell, an on / off status of the at least one cell, at least one time period during which a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, at least one time period during which a spatial setting of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, or at least one time period where an energy saving state or mode is applicable.

29. The method according to any of claims 21 to 28, further comprising: transmitting, to the user equipment, information regarding at least one of a discontinuous reception pattern of the at least one cell, a discontinuous transmission pattern of the at least one cell, an on / off status of the at least one cell, at least one time period during which a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, at least one time period during which a spatial setting of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, or at least one time period where an energy saving state or mode is applicable.

30. The method according to any of claims 21 to 29, further comprising: transmitting, to the user equipment, a threshold related to a measured power of a reference signal.

31. The method according to any of claims 21 to 30, further comprising: transmitting, to the user equipment, at least one of a pathloss value, a power offset value, or a pathloss offset value.

32. The method according to claim 31 , wherein the at least one of the pathloss value, the power offset value, or the pathloss offset value is determined based on an uplink signal transmitted by the user equipment.

33. The method according to claims 31 or 32, wherein the at least one of the pathloss value, the power offset value, or the pathloss offset value is transmitted in a downlink control information or a medium access control control element.

34. The method according to any of claims 31 to 33, wherein the power offset value is associated with one cell or multiple cells.

35. The method according to any of claims 21 to 34, further comprising: receiving, from the at least one cell among the one or more cells, a signal level measurement result; and determining, based on the signal level measurement result, a correction factor to the uplink transmission power of the user equipment.

36. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a serving network element, an indication indicating at least one of the following: whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, orat least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control; obtain information of the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication; determine an uplink transmission power based on the obtained information of the at least one power component; and perform an uplink transmission based on the determined uplink transmission power.

37. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the type of the at least one power component comprises a pathloss, a power offset, a pathloss offset, or a reference signal received power.

38. The apparatus according to claim 36 or 37, wherein the indication is received in at least one of a radio resource control message, a downlink control information, a medium access control control element, or a system information block.

39. The apparatus according to any of claims 36 to 38, wherein the indication is associated with or included in a transmission configuration indicator state information.

40. The apparatus according to claim 39, wherein the transmission configuration indicator state information comprises or is associated with more than one reference signals and the more than one reference signals correspond to respective one or more cells.

41. The apparatus according to claim 39 or 40, wherein the transmission configuration indicator state information comprises or is associated with one or more pathloss values, pathloss offsets, or power offsets, and wherein the one or more pathloss values, pathloss offsets, or power offsets correspond to respective one or more cells.

42. The apparatus according to any of claims 36 to 41, wherein the indication indicates at least one time period during which the at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control.

43. The apparatus according to claim 42, wherein the at least one time period is associated with at least one of the following: a discontinuous reception pattern of the at least one cell, a discontinuous transmission pattern of the at least one cell, an on / off status of the at least one cell, at least one time period during which a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, at least one time period during which a spatial setting of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, or at least one time period where an energy saving state or mode is applicable.

44. The apparatus according to any of claims 36 to 43, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: determine whether to consider the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication.

45. The apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from the serving network element, information regarding at least one of a discontinuous reception pattern of the at least one cell, a discontinuous transmission pattern of the at least one cell, an on / off status of the at least one cell, at least one time period during which a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, at least one time period during which a spatial setting of a reference signalfrom the at least one cell has changed, or at least one time period where an energy saving state or mode is applicable.

46. The apparatus according to claim 45, wherein the determining whether to consider the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one neighbor cell is further based on the received information.

47. The apparatus according to any of claims 44 to 46, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: measure at least one reference signal from the at least one cell, and wherein the determination to consider the at least one power component is in response to the measured power of the reference signal being larger than or equal to a threshold.

48. The apparatus according to claim 47, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: receive the threshold from the serving network element.

49. The apparatus according to any of claims 36 to 48, wherein the obtained information of the at least one power component comprises at least one of the following: the at least one memory storing instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to measure a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell, or the at least one memory storing instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to calculate at least one pathloss based on at least one reference signal from the at least one cell.

50. The apparatus according to any of claims 36 to 49, wherein the obtaining information of the at least one power componentcomprises receiving from the serving network element at least one of a pathloss value, a power offset value, or a pathloss offset value.

51. The apparatus according to claim 50, wherein the at least one of the pathloss value, the power offset value, or the pathloss offset value is determined based on an uplink signal transmitted by the apparatus.

52. The apparatus according to claim 50 or 51, wherein the at least one of the pathloss value, the power offset value, or the pathloss offset value is received in a downlink control information or a medium access control control element.

53. The apparatus according to any of claims 50 to 52, wherein the power offset value is associated with one cell or multiple cells.

54. The apparatus according to any of claims 36 to 53, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: determine that at least one cell among the one or more cells is deactivated, in a dormant state, or in a cell discontinuous reception state at least for a time period; and set respective at least one power component value to zero or to a certain value at least for the time period.

55. The apparatus according to any of claims 36 to 54, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: determine that at least one cell among the one or more cells is configured with a flexible duplexing pattern; and set respective at least one power component value to different values in different time periods of the flexible duplexing pattern.

56. An apparatus, comprising:at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: transmit, to a user equipment, an indication indicating at least one of the following: whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control; and receive, from the user equipment, an uplink transmission based on an uplink transmission power determined from information of the at least one power component.

57. The apparatus according to claim 56, wherein the type of the at least one power component comprises a pathloss, a power offset, a pathloss offset, or a reference signal received power.

58. The apparatus according to claim 56 or 57, wherein the indication is transmitted in at least one of a radio resource control message, a downlink control information, a medium access control control element, or a system information block.

59. The apparatus according to any of claims 56 to 58, wherein the indication is associated with or included in a transmission configuration indicator state information.

60. The apparatus according to claim 59, wherein the transmission configuration indicator state information comprises or is associated with more than one reference signals and the more than one reference signals correspond to respective one or more cells.

61. The apparatus according to claims 59 or 60,wherein the transmission configuration indicator state information comprises or is associated with one or more pathloss values, pathloss offsets, or power offsets, and wherein the one or more pathloss values, pathloss offsets, or power offsets correspond to respective one or more cells.

62. The apparatus according to any of claims 56 to 61, wherein the indication indicates at least one time period during which the at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control.

63. The apparatus according to claim 62, wherein the at least one time period is associated with at least one of the following: a discontinuous reception pattern of the at least one cell, a discontinuous transmission pattern of the at least one cell, an on / off status of the at least one cell, at least one time period during which a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, at least one time period during which a spatial setting of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, or at least one time period where an energy saving state or mode is applicable.

64. The apparatus according to any of claims 56 to 63, further comprising: transmitting, to the user equipment, information regarding at least one of a discontinuous reception pattern of the at least one cell, a discontinuous transmission pattern of the at least one cell, an on / off status of the at least one cell, at least one time period during which a power of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, at least one time period during which a spatial setting of a reference signal from the at least one cell has changed, or at least one time period where an energy saving state or mode is applicable.

65. The apparatus according to any of claims 56 to 64, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: transmitting, to the user equipment, a threshold related to a measured power of a reference signal.

66. The apparatus according to any of claims 56 to 65, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: transmitting, to the user equipment, at least one of a pathloss value, a power offset value, or a pathloss offset value.

67. The apparatus according to claim 66, wherein the at least one of the pathloss value, the power offset value, or the pathloss offset value is determined based on an uplink signal transmitted by the user equipment.

68. The apparatus according to claims 66 or 67, wherein the at least one of the pathloss value, the power offset value, or the pathloss offset value is transmitted in a downlink control information or a medium access control control element.

69. The apparatus according to any of claims 66 to 68, wherein the power offset value is associated with one cell or multiple cells.

70. The method according to any of claims 56 to 69, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: receiving, from the at least one cell among the one or more cells, a signal level measurement result; and determining, based on the signal level measurement result, a correction factor to the uplink transmission power of the user equipment.

71. An apparatus , comprising : means for receiving, from a serving network element, an indication indicating at least one of the following: whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control; means for obtaining information of the at least one power component corresponding to the at least one cell based on the received indication; means for determining an uplink transmission power based on the obtained information of the at least one power component; and means for performing an uplink transmission based on the determined uplink transmission power.

72. An apparatus, comprising: means for transmitting, to a user equipment, an indication indicating at least one of the following: whether at least one power component corresponding to at least one cell among one or more cells should be considered for uplink power control, a type of at least one power component that should be considered for uplink power control, or at least one cell among one or more cells of which at least one power component should or should not be considered for uplink power control; and means for receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink transmission based on an uplink transmission power determined from information of the at least one power component.

73. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing the method according to any of claims 1-35.

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