Apparatus and method for determining beam for PDCCH

Abstract

The present disclosure provides an apparatus and method for determining a beam for a PDCCH. The present disclosure provides an apparatus for a UE, comprising: a memory; and a processor circuit for accessing the memory through one or more memory interfaces, wherein the processor circuit is used to: detect one or more transmit (Tx) beams of an access node (AN); select one or more candidate Tx beams based on the detection; generate Tx beam information for transmission to the AN, wherein the Tx beam information is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams; and monitor the PDCCH at a receive (Rx) beam corresponding to the target Tx beam for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the AN, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam information, and wherein the memory is used to store information related to the target Tx beam of the AN. Other embodiments may also be disclosed and claimed.

Description

[0001] Priority declaration

[0002] This application is based on and claims the priority of international application serial number PCT / CN2018 / 081702 filed on April 3, 2018, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0003] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to an apparatus and method for determining a beam for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). Background Art

[0004] The explosive growth of wireless services has led to an urgent need for improvements in communication rates and capacity. Multi-antenna technology has been introduced and studied to improve the rate and capacity of wireless communications. As the number of antennas increases, beam management becomes increasingly important. The present disclosure will provide a solution for determining the beam for PDCCH in beam management. Summary of the invention

[0005] One aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus for a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and a processor circuit for accessing the memory through one or more memory interfaces, wherein the processor circuit is used to: detect one or more transmit (Tx) beams of an access node (AN); select one or more candidate Tx beams based on the detection; generate Tx beam information for transmission to the AN, wherein the Tx beam information is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams; and monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) at a receive (Rx) beam corresponding to a target Tx beam for the AN for the PDCCH, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam information, and wherein the memory is used to store information related to the target Tx beam of the AN.

[0006] One aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus for an access node (AN), comprising: a memory; and a processor circuit for accessing the memory through one or more memory interfaces, wherein the processor circuit is used to: determine a target Tx beam used by the AN for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) based on Tx beam information sent from a user equipment (UE), wherein the Tx beam information is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams of the AN; and enable the PDCCH to be transmitted to the UE using the target Tx beam; and wherein the memory is used to store information related to the target Tx beam.

[0007] One aspect of the present disclosure provides one or more computer-readable media having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor circuit, cause the processor circuit to: generate Message 3 for a contention-based random access procedure, wherein Message 3 includes a beam report message for indicating an available transmit (Tx) beam of an access node (AN); cause Message 3 to be transmitted to the AN; and monitor Message 4 at an Rx beam of a user equipment (UE) corresponding to a Tx beam of Message 4 used by the AN for the contention-based random access procedure, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 is determined based on: a Tx beam with a maximum RSRP among the available Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the available Tx beams indicated by the beam report message.

[0008] One aspect of the present disclosure provides one or more computer-readable media having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor circuit, cause the processor circuit to: generate Message 1 for a contention-free random access procedure, wherein Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request or a non-beam failure recovery message, and wherein Message 1 is used to indicate a transmit (Tx) beam of an access node (AN); cause Message 1 to be transmitted to the AN; and monitor Message 2 at an Rx beam of a user equipment (UE) corresponding to the Tx beam of Message 2 used by the AN for the contention-free random access procedure, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 2 is determined to be the Tx beam indicated by Message 1. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements.

[0010] Figure 1 A communication system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0011] Figure 2 A flowchart for determining an Rx beam used by a UE for a PDCCH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0012] Figure 3 A flowchart for determining a Tx beam used by an AN for a PDCCH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0013] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of beam failure recovery (BFR) via PUCCH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0014] Figure 5A flow chart of the communication of beam report messages and / or non-BFR messages for a contention-based random access procedure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0015] Figure 6 A flow chart of the communication of beam report messages and / or non-BFR messages for a contention-based random access procedure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0016] Figure 7 A schematic diagram illustrating BFR via contention-based PRACH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0017] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of scheduling request message / new data arrival request message via contention-based PRACH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0018] Fig. 9 A flow chart illustrating the communication of a beam failure recovery request and / or non-BFR message for a contention-free random access procedure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0019] Fig.10 A flow chart illustrating the communication of a beam failure recovery request and / or non-BFR message for a contention-free random access procedure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0020] Fig.11 A schematic diagram showing a new data arrival request message via contention-free PRACH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0021] Fig.12 Example components of a device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are shown.

[0022] Fig.13 An example interface of a baseband circuit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0023] Fig.14 is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium and performing any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, according to some example embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The various aspects of the illustrative embodiments will be described using terms commonly used by those skilled in the art to convey the essence of the present disclosure to other persons skilled in the art. However, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that many alternative embodiments may be practiced using portions of the described aspects. For purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrative embodiments. However, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that alternative embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other cases, well-known features may be omitted or simplified to avoid blurring the illustrative embodiments.

[0025] Furthermore, various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations in a manner that is most helpful for understanding the illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description should not be construed as implying that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations do not need to be performed in the order presented.

[0026] The phrases "in an embodiment," "in one embodiment," and "in some embodiments" are used repeatedly herein. The phrase generally does not refer to the same embodiment; however, it may. The terms "comprising," "having," and "including" are synonymous unless the context dictates otherwise. The phrases "A or B" and "A / B" mean "(A), (B), or (A and B)."

[0027] Various embodiments herein describe physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) default beam operation. Some embodiments may be used in a third generation partnership project (3GPP) new radio (NR) (also known as 5G) system. For beam failure recovery requests via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) / contention-based physical random access channel (PRACH), information of multiple candidate beams may be delivered. However, due to a beam failure, the original transmission configuration information (TCI) state configuration for the PDCCH may no longer be valid. Therefore, for a response on the PDCCH, a default beam may be used so that the UE can know which beam to use for monitoring the response.

[0028] In other scenarios, for example, for contention-based / contention-free PRACH for non-beam failure recovery request transmission, since there is no beam failure, the PDCCH TCI state activated before random access may still be valid. Therefore, the default beam for PDCCH may be applied to the UE to monitor PDCCH transmission.

[0029] The present disclosure includes embodiments that can use a default beam for PDCCH transmission in different scenarios, including but not limited to beam failure recovery via PUCCH / contention-based PRACH, TCI status update, contention-based PRACH for non-beam failure recovery, and contention-free PRACH for non-beam failure recovery. These and other embodiments will be described in more detail herein.

[0030] Figure 1 A communication system 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The communication system 100 is shown to include a user equipment (UE) 101. The UE 101 may be a smart phone (e.g., a handheld touch screen mobile computing device that can connect to one or more cellular networks). However, it may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a personal data assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a pager, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a wireless handheld device, or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0031] In some embodiments, UE 101 may include an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-type communication (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC), and narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) to exchange data with an IoT server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), proximity-based services (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, a sensor network, or an IoT network. The M2M or MTC data exchange may be a machine-initiated data exchange. The IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-term connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep valid messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity to the IoT network.

[0032] UE 101 may be configured to connect (e.g., be communicatively coupled) to a radio access network (RAN) 110, which may be, for example, an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), a next generation RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. UE 101 may operate in accordance with a cellular communication protocol, which may be, for example, a global system for mobile communications (GSM) protocol, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a push-to-talk (PTT) protocol, a cellular PTT (POC) protocol, a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a new radio (NR) protocol, etc.

[0033] The RAN 110 may include one or more access nodes (ANs). These ANs may be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next generation NodeBs (gNBs), etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., ground access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). Figure 1 As shown, for example, RAN 110 includes AN 111 and AN 112 .

[0034] UE 101 may be communicatively coupled to RAN 110 by utilizing connection 103 with AN 111, such as Figure 1 As shown. Connection 103 may be implemented using one or more beams (not shown). A beam may indicate a spatial domain transmit and / or receive filter or a spatial relationship, and thus, the terms "beam", "spatial domain transmit and / or receive filter" and "spatial relationship" may be interchangeable herein.

[0035] AN 111 and AN 112 may communicate with each other via an X2 interface 113. AN 111 and AN 112 may be macro ANs, which may provide a larger coverage area. Alternatively, they may be femtocell ANs or picocell ANs, which may provide a smaller coverage area, a smaller user capacity, or a higher bandwidth than a macro AN. For example, one or both of AN 111 and AN 112 may be a low power (LP) AN. In one embodiment, AN 111 and AN 112 may be ANs of the same type. In another embodiment, they are ANs of different types.

[0036] AN 111 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for UE 101. In some embodiments, ANs 111 and 112 may implement various logical functions of RAN 110, including but not limited to radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0037] According to some embodiments, UE 101 may be configured to communicate with AN 111 or other UEs through a multi-carrier communication channel using an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication signal according to various communication technologies, such as but not limited to an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication technology (e.g., for downlink communication) or a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication technology (e.g., for uplink and proximity-based services (ProSe) or sidelink communication), but the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto in this respect. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0038] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from AN 111 to UE 101, while uplink transmissions may use similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is a physical resource in the downlink in each time slot. This time-frequency plane representation method is a common practice in OFDM systems, which makes radio resource allocation more intuitive. Each column and row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes multiple resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a set of resource elements. In the frequency domain, this can represent the minimum amount of resources that can be currently allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels that are transmitted using such resource blocks.

[0039] Downlink channels may include a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0040] The PDSCH may carry user data and higher layer signaling to the UE 101. The PDCCH may carry information about the transport format and resource allocation aspects related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It may also inform the UE 101 of the transport format, resource allocation, and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (allocation of control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE 101 within the cell) may be performed at the AN 111 based on channel quality information fed back from the UE 101. Downlink resource allocation information for (e.g., allocated to) the UE 101 may be sent on the PDCCH.

[0041] PDCCH can use control channel elements (CCE) to transmit control information. Before mapping to resource elements, PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruplets, and then these quadruplets can be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH can be sent using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE can correspond to nine groups of physical resource elements (referred to as resource element groups (REGs)), each group including four physical resource elements. Four orthogonal phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. PDCCH can be sent using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and the channel conditions. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats in LTE, with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L=1, 2, 4, or 8)

[0042] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may use an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH), which uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more enhanced control channel elements (ECCEs) may be used to send EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine groups of physical resource elements (referred to as enhanced resource element groups (EREGs)), each group including four physical resource elements. In some cases, ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs.

[0043] The uplink channels may include a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). The PUSCH may carry user data and control information to the AN(s), and the PUCCH may carry control information to the AN(s).

[0044] RAN 110 is shown as being communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 120 via an S1 interface 114. In some embodiments, CN 120 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen packet core (NPC) network, or other types of CNs. In one embodiment, S1 interface 114 is divided into two parts: an S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface 115, which is a signaling interface between ANs 111 and 112 and MME 121; and an S1-U interface 116, which carries traffic data between ANs 111 and 112 and a serving gateway (S-GW) 122.

[0045] In one embodiment, CN 120 may include MME 121, S-GW 122, Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 123, and Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 124. MME 121 may be similar in function to the control plane of a conventional Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN). MME 121 may manage mobility aspects of access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. HSS 124 may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information for supporting network entities in handling communication sessions. CN 120 may include one or more HSS 124, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, the capacity of the devices, the organization of the network, etc. For example, HSS 124 may provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing resolution, location dependency, etc.

[0046] The S-GW 122 may terminate the S1 interface 114 towards the RAN 110 and route data packets between the RAN 110 and the CN 120. In addition, the S-GW 122 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-AN handovers and may also provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0047] The P-GW 123 may terminate the SGi interface toward the PDN. The P-GW 123 may route data packets between the CN 120 and an external network such as a network including an application server (AS) 130 (or referred to as an application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 125. Typically, the application server 130 may be an element that provides an application that uses IP bearer resources with a core network (e.g., a UMTS packet service (PS) domain, a LTE PS data service, etc.). In one embodiment, the P-GW 123 is communicatively coupled to the application server 130 via an IP communication interface. The application server 130 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) of the UE 101 via the CN 120.

[0048] The P-GW 123 may also be responsible for policy enforcement and charging data collection. The Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) 126 is the policy and charging control element of the CN 120. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF associated with the UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN). In a roaming scenario with local traffic bursts, there may be two PCRFs associated with the UE's IP-CAN session: the Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within the HPLMN and the Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in the Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF 126 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 130 via the P-GW 123. The application server 130 may signal the PCRF 126 to indicate a new service flow and select appropriate quality of service (QoS) and charging parameters. PCRF 126 may provide the rules to a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) using the appropriate Traffic Flow Template (TFT) and QoS Class Identifier (QCI), which initiates the QoS and charging specified by application server 130 .

[0049] Figure 1 The number of devices and / or networks shown is provided for illustration purposes only. In practice, there may be additional devices and / or networks, fewer devices and / or networks, different devices and / or networks, or different Figure 1Alternatively or additionally, one or more devices of system 100 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another one or more devices of system 100. Furthermore, although Figure 1 Although "direct" connections are shown in the figure, these connections should be interpreted as logical communication paths. In practice, one or more intermediate devices (e.g., routers, gateways, modems, switches, hubs, etc.) may exist.

[0050] Figure 2 A flowchart for determining an Rx beam used by a UE for a PDCCH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0051] At 210, a UE (eg, Figure 1 UE 101) can detect AN (e.g., Figure 1 For example, UE 101 may detect the signal strength of each of the one or more Tx beams of AN 111 to obtain the quality or availability of each Tx beam of AN 111.

[0052] At 220, UE 101 may select one or more candidate Tx beams based on the above detection. For example, UE 101 may select one or more candidate Tx beams, each of which has a reference signal received power (RSRP) greater than a predetermined threshold.

[0053] At 230, the UE 101 may generate Tx beam information for transmission to the AN 111. The Tx beam information may be used to indicate the one or more candidate Tx beams selected at 220.

[0054] At 240, the UE 101 may monitor the PDCCH at an Rx beam corresponding to a target Tx beam used for the PDCCH by the AN 111. The target Tx beam of the AN may be determined based on the Tx beam information.

[0055] Figure 3 A flowchart for determining a Tx beam used by an AN for a PDCCH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0056] At 310, AN (eg, Figure 1 AN 111) can be based on the UE (e.g., Figure 1 The UE 101 may determine the target Tx beam for the PDCCH by using the Tx beam information sent by the UE 101. The Tx beam information may be sent by the UE 101 to the AN 111. Figure 2is generated at 230 in and can be used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams of AN 111.

[0057] At 320 , AN 111 may cause the PDCCH to be transmitted to UE 101 using the target Tx beam determined at 310 .

[0058] like Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, UE 101 and AN 111 can respectively determine corresponding beams for PDCCH. For UE 101, an Rx beam for PDCCH can be determined. For AN 111, a Tx beam for PDCCH can be determined. In other words, both UE 101 and AN 111 can determine a default beam for corresponding transmission or reception of PDCCH.

[0059] There are several ways to determine the corresponding beams for PDCCH for both UE 101 and AN 111 in different scenarios, which will be discussed in this disclosure.The specific way to determine the default beam for PDCCH for UE 101 and AN 111 may be predefined or configured by higher layer signaling.

[0060] There are several scenarios for determining the beam used for PDCCH, including but not limited to beam failure recovery (BFR) via PUCCH, BFR via contention-based PRACH, BFR via non-contention PRACH, non-BFR via contention-based PRACH, non-BFR via non-contention PRACH, TCI status update, etc.

[0061] A beam failure event may occur when the quality of the channel's (one or more) beam-to-link is lower than a threshold for a period of time. When a beam failure event occurs, a BFR mechanism may be triggered. In some implementations, UE 101 may trigger a BFR mechanism. For example, when UE 101 measures that the quality of the channel's beam-to-link is lower than a threshold for a period of time, UE 101 may need to find one or more candidate beams. In order to find (one or more) candidate beams, UE 101 may use multiple beams to detect downlink reference signals sent from AN 111. When one or more beams of the multiple beams successfully identify the downlink reference signal, the one or more beams may be determined as (one or more) candidate beams.

[0062] Next, UE 101 may send a BFR request to AN 111. The BFR request may include a beam failure event and one or more candidate beams. The BFR request may be sent via PRACH or PUCCH.

[0063] After receiving the BFR request, AN 111 may send a response to the BFR request to UE 101. The response may be sent via PDCCH in a dedicated control resource set (CORESET). After sending the BFR request, UE 101 may monitor the PDCCH in the CORESET to determine whether a response to the BFR request is received. For the CORESET, one of several DCI formats may be used.

[0064] In the BFR scenario via PUCCH, Figure 2 and Figure 3 The Tx beam information described in the above may be transmitted to AN 111 through PUCCH, and the target Tx beam of AN 111 may be used as a beam for transmitting a response to the Tx beam information from AN 111. UE 101 needs to know which beam is used to monitor the response to the Tx beam information from AN 111. At the same time, AN 111 needs to know which beam is used to send a response to the Tx beam information to UE 101.

[0065] In one embodiment, Tx beam information may be carried in the BFR request.

[0066] In another embodiment, the Tx beam information may be partial beam failure information, which may indicate not only one or more candidate Tx beams of AN 111, but also one or more failed Tx beams of AN 111. For example, 3 beams are configured for PDCCH, and UE 101 is configured to report 4 beams. With partial beam failure information, when 2 beams used for PDCCH fail, the Tx beams that UE 101 needs to report include the two failed beams and the other two Tx beams. If the other two Tx beams are not configured with TCI status, a default beam for PDCCH is required.

[0067] Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating BFR via PUCCH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0068] like Figure 4 As shown, when a beam failure occurs, a beam failure is declared. UE 101 may send a BFR request or partial beam failure information to AN 111 through PUCCH. After sending the BFR request or partial beam failure information, UE 101 may monitor PDCCH at an Rx beam corresponding to a target Tx beam used by AN 111 for PDCCH.

[0069] In an embodiment where a BFR request is sent through a PUCCH, a target Tx beam of the AN 111 may be determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among one or more candidate Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by Tx beam information. For example, the RSRP may be a layer 1 RSRP (L1-RSRP).

[0070] In an embodiment of sending partial beam failure information through PUCCH, the target Tx beam of AN 111 can be determined based on the characteristics of the candidate beams indicated by the Tx beam information. Specifically, if one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more new Tx beams (a new Tx beam means that UE 101 does not have a corresponding TCI state for the Tx beam), the target Tx beam of AN 111 can be determined based on the following items: a Tx beam with a maximum RSRP in one or more new Tx beams; or the first Tx beam in one or more new Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information. If one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more TCI-configured Tx beams (a TCI-configured Tx beam means that UE 101 has a corresponding TCI state for the Tx beam), the target Tx beam of AN 111 can be determined based on: the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams; or the first Tx beam among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0071] As described above, after sending a BFR request or partial beam failure information, UE 101 may monitor the previously monitored CORESET(s) with the previously configured TCI state.

[0072] The response to the BFR request or partial beam failure information may be received via DCI. The UE 101 may determine that the AN 111 has successfully received the BFR request or partial beam failure information if the following conditions exist: the DCI is scrambled with a predefined or configured radio network temporary identifier (RNTI); the DCI is received in a CORESET, where the beam corresponding to the CORESET is not out of order; and / or the DCI has a dedicated DCI format.

[0073] The following will be combined Figures 5 to 8 Embodiments related to scenarios of BFR via contention-based PRACH and non-BFR via contention-based PRACH are described.

[0074] Figure 5A flow chart of the communication of beam report messages and / or non-BFR messages for a contention-based random access procedure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0075] At 510, UE 101 may generate Message 3 of a contention-based random access procedure. Message 3 may include a non-BFR message and / or a beam report message for indicating an available Tx beam of AN 111. In one embodiment, the non-BFR message may include, but is not limited to, a scheduling request message, a new data arrival request message, a radio resource control (RRC) reestablishment request message, a handover request message, and / or the like.

[0076] At 520 , UE 101 may cause Message 3 to be sent to AN 111 .

[0077] Figure 6 A flow chart of the communication of beam report messages and / or non-BFR messages for a contention-based random access procedure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0078] At 610, AN 111 may receive Message 3 of a contention-based random access procedure from UE 101. Message 3 may include a non-BFR message and / or a beam report message for reporting available Tx beams of the AN. In one embodiment, the non-BFR message may include, but is not limited to, a scheduling request message, a new data arrival request message, an RRC reestablishment request message, a handover request message, and / or the like.

[0079] At 620 , AN 111 may determine a Tx beam for AN 111 to use to transmit Message 4 in response to Message 3 .

[0080] At 630 , AN 111 may cause Message 4 to be sent to UE 101 .

[0081] Figure 7 A schematic diagram illustrating BFR via contention-based PRACH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0082] like Figure 7As shown, when a beam failure occurs, a beam failure is declared. UE 101 may send Message 1 of a contention-based random access procedure to AN 111 via PRACH. In response to Message 1, AN 111 may send a random access response (Message 2) to UE 101. Then, UE 101 may send Message 3 to AN 111. Message 3 may include a beam report message for reporting an available Tx beam of AN 111. After sending Message 3, UE 101 may monitor Message 4 at an Rx beam corresponding to a target Tx beam used by AN 111 for Message 4. In one embodiment, Message 4 may be carried by a DCI in a dedicated CQRESET.

[0083] In one embodiment, the Tx beam information is sent to AN 111 via Message 1. The Tx beam information may indicate a single Tx beam of AN 111, for example, a Tx beam with better quality. The target Tx beam used by AN 111 for Message 4 may be determined as the single Tx beam indicated by Message 1. In other words, the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) associated with the PDCCH of Message 4 performs quasi-co-location (QCL) with the synchronization signal (SS) / physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) identified by the UE in Message 1. That is, the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is the same as the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2.

[0084] In another embodiment, the Tx beam information is sent to the AN 111 through Message 3. The Tx beam information may indicate one or more candidate beams of the AN 111. The target Tx beam used by the AN 111 to transmit the Message 4 may be determined based on a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more candidate beams or based on the first Tx beam among the candidate Tx beams indicated by the beam report.

[0085] In an embodiment where Message 3 includes a non-BFR message, the target Tx beam used by AN 111 for Message 4 may be determined as a single Tx beam indicated by Message 1, which is the same as the case in some embodiments where Message 3 includes a beam report message. These embodiments may be applicable to all non-BFR messages, such as, but not limited to, a scheduling request message, a new data arrival request message, an RRC reestablishment request message, a handover request message, etc. The embodiments are not limited in this respect.

[0086] In one embodiment, if Message 3 includes a scheduling request message or a new data arrival request message, the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 may be determined as a Tx beam activated before the contention-based random access procedure. UE 101 may monitor Message 4 at the UE's Rx beam corresponding to the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4.

[0087] In one embodiment, if Message 3 includes a scheduling request message or a new data arrival request message, the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 2 may also be determined as a Tx beam that has been activated before the contention-based random access procedure.

[0088] Figure 8 A schematic diagram showing a scheduling request message / new data arrival request message via contention-based PRACH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0089] like Figure 8 As shown, for the transmission of the scheduling request message / new data arrival request message of the contention-based random access procedure, the previously configured (one or more) TCI states before the random access procedure are still valid because there is no beam failure / radio link failure. Therefore, for Message 4 in response to Message 3 (carrying the scheduling request message / new data arrival request message), the Tx beam of AN 111 can be determined as: i) the Tx beam indicated by Message 1; or ii) the Tx beam that has been activated before the contention-based random access procedure.

[0090] In embodiments of BFR and / or non-BFR via contention-based PRACH, the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 may be the same as or different from the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2. The embodiments are not limited in this respect.

[0091] The following will be combined Figures 9 to 11 Embodiments related to BFR and / or non-BFR scenarios via contention-free PRACH are described.

[0092] Fig. 9 A flow chart illustrating the communication of a beam failure recovery request and / or non-BFR message for a contention-free random access procedure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0093] At 910, UE 101 may generate Message 1 for a contention-free random access procedure. Message 1 may include a beam failure recovery request and / or a non-BFR message.

[0094] At 920 , UE 101 may cause Message 1 to be sent to AN 111 .

[0095] Fig.10 A flow chart illustrating the communication of a beam failure recovery request and / or non-BFR message for a contention-free random access procedure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0096] At 1010, AN 111 may receive Message 1 of a contention-free random access procedure from UE 101. Message 1 may include a beam failure recovery request and / or a non-BFR message.

[0097] At 1020 , AN 111 may determine a Tx beam for transmitting Message 2 in response to Message 1 .

[0098] At 1030 , AN 111 may cause Message 2 to be sent to UE 101 .

[0099] In one embodiment, the non-BFR may include, but is not limited to, a new data arrival request message or a handover request message.

[0100] After sending Message 1, UE 101 may monitor Message 2 in response to Message 1 at an Rx beam corresponding to the Tx beam used by AN for Message 2. In one embodiment, the Tx beam used by AN for Message 2 may be determined as a Tx beam activated before the contention-free random access process. In another embodiment, the Tx beam used by AN for Message 2 may be determined as a Tx beam indicated by Message 1.

[0101] Fig.11 A schematic diagram showing a new data arrival request message via contention-free PRACH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0102] like Fig.11 As shown, for the new data arrival request message via the contention-free random access procedure, the previously configured (one or more) TCI states before the random access procedure are still valid because no beam failure / radio link failure occurs. Therefore, the Tx beam used by AN 111 for Message 2 (which responds to Message 1 carrying the new data arrival request message) can be determined as: i) the Tx beam indicated by Message 1; or ii) the Tx beam that has been activated before the contention-free random access procedure.

[0103] In the present disclosure, when the Rx beam of UE 101 corresponding to the target Tx beam of AN 111 does not have a configured TCI state, TCI state reconfiguration may be performed for UE 101 based on TCI state configuration information from AN 111. For example, after receiving a response to a BFR request, UE 101 may perform TCI state reconfiguration using the TCI state configuration information from AN 111.

[0104] In some embodiments, the Rx beam of the UE 101 and its corresponding target Tx beam of the AN 111 may be applied until they are reconfigured and / or reactivated.

[0105] For the TCI status update scenario, Figure 2 and Figure 3 The target Tx beam of AN 111 in the embodiment can be used as a beam for transmitting TCI state configuration information and / or TCI state activation information from AN 111 for UE 101.

[0106] With a normal beam report (i.e., a beam report without information about a failed beam) for reporting one or more candidate Tx beams of AN 111, when the reported (one or more) Tx beams are not configured with (one or more) TCI states or the Tx beam with the previously activated TCI state is not included in the beam report, the TCI state configuration needs to be updated (reconfigured and / or reactivated). TCI reconfiguration can be performed by the RRC layer, and TCI reactivation can be performed by the MAC layer. However, in order to deliver TCI configuration and activation information, a default beam can be applied to the PDCCH because AN 111 does not know whether the Tx beam with the previously activated TCI state is still working or has failed.

[0107] In some embodiments, the beam used to transmit TCI state configuration information and / or TCI state activation information can be determined in the following manner: i) if one or more candidate Tx beams include a Tx beam with an activated TCI state, the beam is determined based on the Tx beam with the activated TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams; ii) if there is no Tx beam with an activated TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams, the beam is determined based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP in one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam in one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state indicated by the Tx beam information; or iii) if there is no Tx beam configured with the TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx, the beam is determined based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP in one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam in one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0108] Fig.12 Example components of a device 1200 according to some embodiments are shown. In some embodiments, the device 1200 may include at least an application circuit 1202, a baseband circuit 1204, a radio frequency (RF) circuit 1206, a front end module (FEM) circuit 1208, one or more antennas 1210, and a power management circuit (PMC) 1212 coupled together as shown. The components of the device 1200 shown may be included in a UE or an AN. In some embodiments, the device 1200 may include fewer elements (e.g., the AN may not use the application circuit 1202, but may include a processor / controller to process IP data received from the EPC). In some embodiments, the device 1200 may include additional elements, such as a memory / storage device, a display, a camera, a sensor, or an input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., for a Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementation, the circuit may be separately included in more than one device).

[0109] The application circuit 1202 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuit 1202 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The (one or more) processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and special-purpose processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processor may be coupled to or may include a memory / storage device, and may be configured to run instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications and / or operating systems to run on the device 1200. In some embodiments, the processor of the application circuit 1202 may process IP packets received from the EPC.

[0110] The baseband circuit 1204 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuit 1204 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of the RF circuit 1206 and generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 1206. The baseband processing circuit 1204 may interface with the application circuit 1202 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of the RF circuit 1206. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1204 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor 1204A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 1204B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor 1204C, or (one or more) other baseband processors 1204D for other existing generations, generations under development, or generations to be developed in the future (e.g., the sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuit 1204 (e.g., one or more of the baseband processors 1204A-D) may handle various radio control functions that support communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuit 1206. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 1204A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory 1204G and these functions may be performed via the central processing unit (CPU) 1204E. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to: signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuit of the baseband circuit 1204 may include fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, and / or constellation mapping / demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuit of the baseband circuit 1204 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and / or low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. The embodiments of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions are not limited to these examples, and may include other suitable functions in other embodiments.

[0111] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1204 may include one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 1204F. (One or more) audio DSPs 1204F may include elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other appropriate processing elements in other embodiments. In some embodiments, the components of the baseband circuit may be appropriately combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or arranged on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuit 1204 and the application circuit 1202 may be implemented together, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0112] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1204 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1204 may support communications with an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuit 1204 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuits.

[0113] RF circuitry 1206 may support communication with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation over a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, RF circuitry 1206 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to assist in communication with a wireless network. RF circuitry 1206 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry that down-converts an RF signal received from FEM circuitry 1208 and provides a baseband signal to baseband circuitry 1204. RF circuitry 1206 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry that up-converts a baseband signal provided by baseband circuitry 1204 and provides an RF output signal to FEM circuitry 1208 for transmission.

[0114] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuit 1206 may include a mixer circuit 1206a, an amplifier circuit 1206b, and a filter circuit 1206c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 1206 may include a filter circuit 1206c and a mixer circuit 1206a. The RF circuit 1206 may also include a synthesizer circuit 1206d for synthesizing frequencies used by the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 1208 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 1206d. The amplifier circuit 1206b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 1206c may be a low pass filter (LPF) or a band pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuit 1204 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal, but this is not required. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0115] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1206a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert an input baseband signal based on a synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 1206d to generate an RF output signal for FEM circuit 1208. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuit 1204 and may be filtered by filter circuit 1206c.

[0116] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1206a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and / or up-conversion, respectively.

[0117] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1206a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1206a of the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and / or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1206a of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0118] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the RF circuit 1206 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit, and the baseband circuit 1204 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuit 1206.

[0119] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0120] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1206d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 1206d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0121] Synthesizer circuit 1206d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by mixer circuit 1206a of RF circuit 1206 based on the frequency input and the divider control input. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1206d may be a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0122] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), but this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuit 1204 or the application processor 1202 according to the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by the application processor 1202.

[0123] The synthesizer circuit 1206d of the RF circuit 1206 may include a frequency divider, a delay locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry output) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded tunable delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay element may be configured to decompose the VCO cycle into at most Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0124] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 1206d can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as an output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency can be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used with an orthogonal generator and divider circuit to generate multiple signals with multiple different phases from each other at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency can be an LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 1206 can include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0125] The FEM circuitry 1208 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 1210, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the RF circuitry 1206 for further processing. The FEM circuitry 1208 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify signals provided by the RF circuitry 1206 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 1210. In various embodiments, amplification via the transmit signal path or the receive signal path may be accomplished only in the RF circuitry 1206, only in the FEM 1208, or in both the RF circuitry 1206 and the FEM 1208.

[0126] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 1208 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit may include a low noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to the RF circuit 1206). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 1208 may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying the input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 1206) and one or more filters for generating an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., through one or more of the one or more antennas 1210).

[0127] In some embodiments, PMC 1212 can manage the power provided to baseband circuit 1204. Specifically, PMC 1212 can control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. When device 1200 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE, PMC 1212 can generally be included. PMC 1212 can improve power conversion efficiency while providing a desired implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics.

[0128] Although Fig.12PMC 1212 is shown coupled only to baseband circuit 1204. However, in other embodiments, PMC 1212 may additionally or alternatively be coupled to other components, such as, but not limited to, application circuit 1202, RF circuit 1206, or FEM 1208, and perform similar power management operations for the other components.

[0129] In some embodiments, the PMC 1212 may control or otherwise be a part of various power saving mechanisms of the device 1200. For example, if the device 1200 is in the RRC_Connected state, in which the device 1200 remains connected to the RAN node when it expects to receive traffic soon, it may then enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device 1200 may be powered off for brief intervals to save power.

[0130] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the device 1200 may transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which the device 1200 is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 1200 enters a very low power state and performs paging, in which the device 1200 periodically wakes up again to listen to the network and then powers off again. The device 1200 may not receive data in this state, and in order to receive data, it may transition back to the RRC_Connected state.

[0131] An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than the paging interval, ranging from a few seconds to a few hours. During this time, the device is completely unable to access the network and may be completely powered off. Any data sent during this time will incur significant delays, assuming the delay is acceptable.

[0132] The processor of the application circuit 1202 and the processor of the baseband circuit 1204 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of the baseband circuit 1204 (alone or in combination) can be used to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, and the processor of the application circuit 1204 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., Transport Communication Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include an RRC layer. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include a physical (PHY) layer of a UE / RAN node.

[0133] Fig.13 An example interface of a baseband circuit according to some embodiments is shown. As described above, Fig.12 The baseband circuit 1204 may include processors 1204A-1204E and a memory 1204G used by the processors. Each of the processors 1204A-1204E may include a memory interface 1304A-1304E, respectively, to send / receive data to / from the memory 1204G.

[0134] The baseband circuit 1204 may also include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuits / devices, such as a memory interface 1312 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 1204), an application circuit interface 1314 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 1204), and a memory interface 1315 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 1204). Fig.12 The application circuit 1202 sends / receives data), the RF circuit interface 1316 (for example, for sending / receiving data to / from Fig.12 An interface for sending / receiving data to / from the RF circuit 1206 of the wireless communication device 1310 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a near field communication (NFC) component, a Bluetooth component (e.g., Bluetooth low energy), a Wi-Fi component, and other communication components), and a power management interface 1320 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving power or control signals to / from the PMC 1212).

[0135] Fig.14 is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein, according to some example embodiments. Specifically, Fig.14 A diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1400 is shown, including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1410, one or more memory / storage devices 1420, and one or more communication resources 1430, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1440. For embodiments utilizing node virtualization (e.g., NFV), a hypervisor 1402 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices utilizing the hardware resources 1400.

[0136] Processor 1410 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, processor 1412 and processor 1414.

[0137] The memory / storage device 1420 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1420 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0138] The communication resources 1430 may include an interconnect or network interface component or other suitable device to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1404 or one or more databases 1406 via the network 1408. For example, the communication resources 1430 may include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via a universal serial bus (USB)), a cellular communication component, an NFC component, a Bluetooth component (e.g., Bluetooth low energy), a Wi-Fi component, and other communication components.

[0139] The instructions 1450 may include software, programs, applications, applet programs, apps, or other executable code for causing at least any processor 1410 to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein. The instructions 1450 may reside in whole or in part in at least one of the processor 1410 (e.g., within a buffer memory of the processor), the memory / storage device 1420, or any suitable combination thereof. In addition, any portion of the instructions 1450 may be transmitted to the hardware resources 1400 from any combination of the peripheral device 1404 or the database 1406. Therefore, the memory of the processor 1410, the memory / storage device 1420, the peripheral device 1404, and the database 1406 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0140] The following paragraphs describe examples of various embodiments.

[0141] Example 1 includes an apparatus for a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and a processor circuit for accessing the memory through one or more memory interfaces, wherein the processor circuit is used to: detect one or more transmit (Tx) beams of an access node (AN); select one or more candidate Tx beams based on the detection; generate Tx beam information for transmission to the AN, wherein the Tx beam information is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams; and monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) at a receive (Rx) beam corresponding to a target Tx beam for the AN for the PDCCH, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam information, and wherein the memory is used to store information related to the target Tx beam of the AN.

[0142] Example 2 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the Tx beam information is to be sent to the AN via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the target Tx beam of the AN is to be used as a beam for transmitting a response to the Tx beam information from the AN.

[0143] Example 3 includes the apparatus of Example 2, wherein Tx beam information is carried in the beam failure recovery request.

[0144] Example 4 includes the apparatus of Example 3, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum reference signal received power (RSRP) among one or more candidate Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by Tx beam information.

[0145] Example 5 includes the apparatus of Example 2, wherein the Tx beam information further indicates a failed Tx beam of the AN.

[0146] Example 6 includes the apparatus of Example 5, wherein the one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more new Tx beams, wherein the UE does not have a corresponding transmission configuration indication (TCI) state for each new Tx beam, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more new Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the one or more new Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0147] Example 7 includes the apparatus of Example 5, wherein the one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more TCI-configured Tx beams, wherein the UE has a corresponding TCI state for each TCI-configured Tx beam, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams indicated by Tx beam information.

[0148] Example 8 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 2 to 7, wherein a response to the Tx beam information is received via downlink control information (DCI), and the processor circuit is used to determine that the Tx beam information has been successfully received by the AN in the following circumstances: the DCI is encrypted with a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), wherein the RNTI is predefined or configured; the DCI is received in a control resource set (CORESET), wherein the beam corresponding to the CORESET is not faulty; or the DCI has a dedicated DCI format.

[0149] Example 9 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting TCI state configuration information or TCI state activation information for the UE from the AN.

[0150] Example 10 includes the apparatus of Example 9, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined as follows: if one or more candidate Tx beams include a Tx beam with an activated TCI state, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the activated TCI state among the one or more candidate Tx beams; if there is no Tx beam with the activated TCI state among the one or more candidate Tx beams, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP among the one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state among the one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam among the one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state indicated by the Tx beam information; or if there is no Tx beam configured with the TCI state among the one or more candidate Tx, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP among the one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam among the one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0151] Example 11 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, Tx beam information is sent to the AN via Message 1 of a contention-based random access procedure, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure.

[0152] Example 12 includes the apparatus of Example 11, wherein a target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be a single Tx beam indicated via Message 1.

[0153] Example 13 includes the apparatus of Example 11 or 12, wherein the processor circuit is used to: generate Message 3 of a contention-based random access process for transmission to the AN, wherein Message 3 includes: a beam report message for reporting an available Tx beam of the AN; or a non-beam fault recovery message.

[0154] Example 14 includes the apparatus of Example 13, wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes: a scheduling request message; a new data arrival request message; an RRC reconstruction request message; or a switching request message.

[0155] Example 15 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein Tx beam information is sent to the AN via Message 3 of a contention-based random access procedure, the Tx beam information includes a beam report message, the beam report message is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams, and the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure.

[0156] Example 16 includes the apparatus of Example 15, wherein the processor circuit is used to monitor Message 4 at an Rx beam of the UE corresponding to the target Tx beam of the AN for Message 4, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN for Message 4 is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among one or more candidate Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by a beam report message.

[0157] Example 17 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, Tx beam information will be sent to the AN via Message 1 of a contention-free random access procedure, the target Tx beam of the AN will be used as a beam for transmitting Message 2 of the contention-free random access procedure, and the target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be the single Tx beam indicated via Message 1, and wherein Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request or a non-beam failure recovery message.

[0158] Example 18 includes the apparatus of Example 17, wherein Message 1 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes a new data arrival request message or a switching request message.

[0159] Example 19 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 1 to 18, wherein the processor circuit is used to: when the Rx beam of the UE corresponding to the target Tx beam of the AN is not configured with a TCI state, perform TCI state reconfiguration for the UE based on TCI state configuration information from the AN.

[0160] Example 20 includes the apparatus of any one of Examples 1 to 19, wherein the AN includes a next generation NodeB (gNB).

[0161] Example 21 includes an apparatus for a user equipment (UE), comprising: a radio frequency (RF) interface; and a processor circuit coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuit is used to: generate Message 3 for a contention-based random access process, wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam failure recovery message or a beam report message for indicating an available Tx beam of the AN; and cause Message 3 to be sent to an access node (AN), and wherein the RF interface is used to send Message 3 to the AN.

[0162] Example 22 includes the apparatus of Example 21, wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, the non-beam fault recovery message including: a scheduling request message; a new data arrival request message; an RRC reconstruction request message; or a switching request message.

[0163] Example 23 includes the apparatus of Example 22, wherein the processor circuit is used to: monitor Message 4 at an Rx beam of the UE corresponding to the Tx beam of Message 4 used by the AN for a contention-based random access procedure, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 is determined based on the Tx beam activated before the contention-based random access procedure, and wherein Message 3 includes a scheduling request message or a new data arrival request message.

[0164] Example 24 includes the apparatus of Example 21, wherein the processor circuit is used to: generate Message 1 for a contention-based random access procedure for transmission to an AN, wherein Message 1 is used to indicate a Tx beam of the AN; and monitor Message 4 at an Rx beam of a UE corresponding to a Tx beam of Message 4 used by the AN for a contention-based random access procedure, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 is determined based on the Tx beam indicated by Message 1.

[0165] Example 25 includes the apparatus of Example 23 or 24, wherein a Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 is the same as a Tx beam used by the AN for Message 2 for a contention-based random access procedure.

[0166] Example 26 includes the apparatus of Example 21, wherein Message 3 includes a beam report message for reporting an available Tx beam of the AN, and wherein the processor circuit is used to monitor Message 4 at an Rx beam of the UE corresponding to the Tx beam of Message 4 used by the AN for a contention-based random access procedure, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 is determined based on: a Tx beam with a maximum RSRP among the available Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the available Tx beams indicated by the beam report message.

[0167] Example 27 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 23 to 26, wherein the processor circuit is used to: when the Rx beam of the UE is not configured with a TCI state, perform TCI state reconfiguration for the UE based on transmission configuration indication (TCI) state configuration information from the AN.

[0168] Example 28 includes an apparatus for a user equipment (UE), comprising: a radio frequency (RF) interface; a processor circuit coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuit is used to: generate Message 1 for a contention-free random access process, wherein Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request or a non-beam failure recovery message; and enable transmission of Message 1 to an AN, and wherein the RF interface is used to transmit Message 1 to the AN.

[0169] Example 29 includes the apparatus of Example 28, wherein Message 1 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes: a new data arrival request message; or a switching request message.

[0170] Example 30 includes the apparatus of Example 29, wherein Message 1 includes a new data arrival request message, and wherein the processor circuit is used to: monitor Message 2 at an Rx beam of the UE corresponding to the Tx beam of Message 2 used by the AN for a contention-free random access procedure, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 2 is determined to be a Tx beam that was activated before the contention-free random access procedure.

[0171] Example 31 includes the apparatus of Example 28, wherein Message 1 is used to indicate a Tx beam of an AN; and wherein the processor circuit is used to: monitor Message 2 at an Rx beam of a UE corresponding to a Tx beam of Message 2 used by the AN for a contention-free random access process, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 2 is determined to be the Tx beam indicated by Message 1.

[0172] Example 32 includes the apparatus of Example 30 or 31, wherein the processor circuit is used to: when the Rx beam of the UE is not configured with the TCI state, perform TCI state reconfiguration for the UE based on transmission configuration indication (TCI) state configuration information from the AN.

[0173] Example 33 includes an apparatus for an access node (AN), comprising: a memory; and a processor circuit for accessing the memory through one or more memory interfaces, wherein the processor circuit is used to: determine a target Tx beam used by the AN for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) based on Tx beam information transmitted from a user equipment (UE), wherein the Tx beam information is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams of the AN; and enable transmission of the PDCCH to the UE using the target Tx beam; and wherein the memory is used to store information related to the target Tx beam.

[0174] Example 34 includes the apparatus of Example 33, wherein the Tx beam information is to be sent to the AN via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the target Tx beam of the AN is to be used as a beam for transmitting a response to the Tx beam information from the AN.

[0175] Example 35 includes the apparatus of Example 34, wherein the Tx beam information is carried in the beam failure recovery request.

[0176] Example 36 includes the apparatus of Example 35, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum reference signal received power (RSRP) among one or more candidate Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by Tx beam information.

[0177] Example 37 includes the apparatus of Example 34, wherein the Tx beam information further indicates a failed Tx beam of the AN.

[0178] Example 38 includes the apparatus of Example 37, wherein the one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more new Tx beams, wherein the UE does not have a corresponding transmission configuration indication (TCI) state for each new Tx beam, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more new Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the one or more new Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0179] Example 39 includes the apparatus of Example 37, wherein the one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more TCI-configured Tx beams, wherein the UE has a corresponding TCI state for each TCI-configured Tx beam, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams indicated by Tx beam information.

[0180] Example 40 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 34 to 39, wherein a response to the Tx beam information is sent via downlink control information (DCI), and wherein: the DCI is scrambled with a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), wherein the RNTI is predefined or configured; the DCI is received in a control resource set (CORESET), wherein a beam corresponding to the CORESET is not faulty; or the DCI has a dedicated DCI format.

[0181] Example 41 includes the apparatus of Example 33, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting TCI state configuration information or TCI state activation information for the UE from the AN.

[0182] Example 42 includes the apparatus of Example 41, wherein: if one or more candidate Tx beams include a Tx beam with an activated TCI state, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the activated TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams; if there is no Tx beam with the activated TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP in one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam in one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state indicated by the Tx beam information; or if there is no Tx beam configured with the TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP in one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam in one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0183] Example 43 includes the apparatus of Example 33, wherein one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, Tx beam information is sent to the AN via Message 1 of a contention-based random access procedure, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure.

[0184] Example 44 includes the apparatus of Example 43, wherein a target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be a single Tx beam indicated via Message 1.

[0185] Example 45 includes the apparatus of Example 43 or 44, wherein the processor circuit is used to: receive Message 3 of a contention-based random access procedure from a UE, wherein Message 3 includes: a beam report message for reporting available Tx beams of the AN; or a non-beam fault recovery message.

[0186] Example 46 includes the apparatus of Example 45, wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes: a scheduling request message; a new data arrival request message; an RRC reconstruction request message; or a switching request message.

[0187] Example 47 includes the apparatus of Example 33, wherein Tx beam information is sent to the AN via Message 3 of a contention-based random access procedure, the Tx beam information includes a beam report message, the beam report message is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams, and the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure.

[0188] Example 48 includes the apparatus of Example 47, wherein the Tx beam of the AN for Message 4 is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among one or more candidate Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by a beam report message.

[0189] Example 49 includes the apparatus of Example 33, wherein one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, Tx beam information will be sent to the AN via Message 1 of a contention-free random access procedure, the target Tx beam of the AN will be used as a beam for transmitting Message 2 of the contention-free random access procedure, and the target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be the single Tx beam indicated via Message 1, and wherein Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request or a non-beam failure recovery message.

[0190] Example 50 includes the apparatus of Example 49, wherein Message 1 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes a new data arrival request message or a switching request message.

[0191] Example 51 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 33 to 50, wherein the processor circuit is used to: generate TCI state configuration information for the UE to perform TCI state reconfiguration when the UE does not have a configured TCI state for the UE's Rx beam corresponding to the target Tx beam of the AN.

[0192] Example 52 includes the apparatus of any one of Examples 33 to 51, wherein the AN includes a next generation NodeB (gNB).

[0193] Example 53 includes an apparatus for an access node (AN), comprising: a radio frequency (RF) interface; and a processor circuit coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuit is used to: receive Message 3 for a contention-based random access procedure from a user equipment (UE), wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam failure recovery message or a beam report message for reporting an available Tx beam of the AN; wherein the processor circuit is used to: determine a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 for the contention-based random access procedure; and cause Message 4 to be transmitted to the UE, and wherein the RF interface is used to send Message 4 to the UE.

[0194] Example 54 includes the apparatus of Example 53, wherein the non-beam failure recovery message comprises: a scheduling request message; a new data arrival request message; an RRC reconstruction request message; or a switching request message.

[0195] Example 55 includes the apparatus of Example 53, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is determined based on Message 1 of a contention-based random access process from the UE, wherein Message 1 is used to indicate the Tx beam of the AN, and the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is determined to be the Tx beam indicated by Message 1.

[0196] Example 56 includes the apparatus of Example 53, wherein Message 3 includes a beam report message for reporting an available Tx beam of the AN, and wherein the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is determined based on: a Tx beam with a maximum RSRP among the available Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the available Tx beams indicated by the beam report message.

[0197] Example 57 includes the apparatus of Example 53, wherein a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is determined to be a Tx beam that has been activated before the contention-based random access procedure.

[0198] Example 58 includes the apparatus of any one of Examples 53 to 57, wherein a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is the same as a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2 of a contention-based random access procedure.

[0199] Example 59 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 53 to 58, wherein the processor circuit is used to: when the UE does not have a configured TCI state for the UE's Rx beam corresponding to the beam to which the AN transmits Message 4, generate transmission configuration indication (TCI) state configuration information for the UE to perform TCI state reconfiguration.

[0200] Example 60 includes an apparatus for an access node (AN), comprising: a radio frequency (RF) interface; a processor circuit coupled to the RF interface, wherein the RF interface is used to: receive Message 1 for a contention-free random access procedure from a user equipment (UE), wherein Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request or a non-beam failure recovery message; wherein the processor circuit is used to: determine a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2 for the contention-free random access procedure; and enable transmission of Message 2 to the UE, and wherein the RF interface is used to transmit Message 2 to the UE.

[0201] Example 61 includes the apparatus of Example 60, wherein the non-beam failure recovery message comprises: a new data arrival request message; or a switching request message.

[0202] Example 62 includes the apparatus of Example 61, wherein Message 1 includes a new data arrival request message, and wherein a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2 is determined to be a Tx beam that has been activated before the contention-free random access procedure.

[0203] Example 63 includes the apparatus of Example 60, wherein Message 1 is used to indicate a Tx beam of the AN, and wherein a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2 is determined to be the Tx beam indicated by Message 1.

[0204] Example 64 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 60 to 63, wherein the processor circuit is used to: when the UE does not have a configured TCI state for the UE's Rx beam corresponding to the beam to which the AN transmits Message 2, generate transmission configuration indication (TCI) state configuration information for the UE to perform TCI state reconfiguration.

[0205] Example 65 includes a method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: detecting one or more transmit (Tx) beams of an access node (AN); selecting one or more candidate Tx beams based on the detection; generating Tx beam information for transmission to the AN, wherein the Tx beam information is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams; and monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) at a receive (Rx) beam corresponding to a target Tx beam of the AN for the PDCCH, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam information.

[0206] Example 66 includes the method of Example 65, wherein the Tx beam information is sent to the AN via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting a response to the Tx beam information from the AN.

[0207] Example 67 includes the method of Example 66, wherein the Tx beam information is carried in the beam failure recovery request.

[0208] Example 68 includes the method of Example 67, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum reference signal received power (RSRP) among one or more candidate Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by Tx beam information.

[0209] Example 69 includes the method of Example 66, wherein the Tx beam information further indicates a failed Tx beam of the AN.

[0210] Example 70 includes the method of Example 69, wherein the one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more new Tx beams, wherein the UE does not have a corresponding transmission configuration indication (TCI) state for each new Tx beam, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more new Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the one or more new Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0211] Example 71 includes the method of Example 69, wherein the one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more TCI-configured Tx beams, wherein the UE has a corresponding TCI state for each TCI-configured Tx beam, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0212] Example 72 includes the method of any one of Examples 66 to 71, wherein a response to the Tx beam information is received via downlink control information (DCI), and the method further includes determining that the Tx beam information has been successfully received by the AN in the following circumstances: the DCI is encrypted with a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), wherein the RNTI is predefined or configured; the DCI is received in a control resource set (CORESET), wherein the beam corresponding to the CORESET is not faulty; or the DCI has a dedicated DCI format.

[0213] Example 73 includes the method of Example 65, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting TCI state configuration information or TCI state activation information for the UE from the AN.

[0214] Example 74 includes the method of Example 73, wherein: if one or more candidate Tx beams include a Tx beam with an activated TCI state, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the activated TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams; if there is no Tx beam with an activated TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP in one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam in one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state indicated by the Tx beam information; or if there is no Tx beam configured with the TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP in one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam in one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0215] Example 75 includes the method of Example 65, wherein one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, Tx beam information is sent to the AN via Message 1 of a contention-based random access procedure, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure.

[0216] Example 76 includes the method of Example 75, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be a single Tx beam indicated via Message 1.

[0217] Example 77 includes the method of Example 75 or 76, wherein the method further includes: generating Message 3 of a contention-based random access process for transmission to the AN, wherein Message 3 includes: a beam report message for reporting an available Tx beam of the AN; or a non-beam fault recovery message.

[0218] Example 78 includes the method of Example 77, wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes: a scheduling request message; a new data arrival request message; an RRC reconstruction request message; or a switching request message.

[0219] Example 79 includes the method of Example 65, wherein Tx beam information is sent to the AN via Message 3 of a contention-based random access procedure, the Tx beam information includes a beam report message, the beam report message is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams, and the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure.

[0220] Example 80 includes the method of Example 79, wherein the method further includes: monitoring Message 4 at an Rx beam of the UE corresponding to the target Tx beam of the AN for Message 4, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN for Message 4 is determined based on: a Tx beam with a maximum RSRP among one or more candidate Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by a beam report message.

[0221] Example 81 includes the method of Example 65, wherein one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, Tx beam information will be sent to the AN via Message 1 of a contention-free random access procedure, the target Tx beam of the AN will be used as a beam for transmitting Message 2 of the contention-free random access procedure, and the target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be the single Tx beam indicated via Message 1, and wherein Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request or a non-beam failure recovery message.

[0222] Example 82 includes the method of Example 81, wherein Message 1 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes a new data arrival request message or a switching request message.

[0223] Example 83 includes the method of any one of Examples 65 to 82, wherein the method further includes: when the Rx beam of the UE corresponding to the target Tx beam of the AN is not configured with the TCI state, performing TCI state reconfiguration for the UE based on the TCI state configuration information from the AN.

[0224] Example 84 includes the method of any one of Examples 65 to 83, wherein the AN includes a next generation NodeB (gNB).

[0225] Example 85 includes a method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: generating Message 3 for a contention-based random access process, wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam failure recovery message or a beam report message for indicating an available Tx beam of the AN; and causing Message 3 to be sent to an access node (AN).

[0226] Example 86 includes the method of Example 85, wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes: a scheduling request message; a new data arrival request message; an RRC reconstruction request message; or a switching request message.

[0227] Example 87 includes the method of Example 86, wherein the method further includes: monitoring Message 4 at an Rx beam of the UE corresponding to the Tx beam of Message 4 used by the AN for a contention-based random access procedure, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 is determined based on a Tx beam activated before the contention-based random access procedure, and wherein Message 3 includes a scheduling request message or a new data arrival request message.

[0228] Example 88 includes the method of Example 85, wherein the method further includes: generating Message 1 for a contention-based random access process for transmission to an AN, wherein Message 1 is used to indicate a Tx beam of the AN; and monitoring Message 4 at an Rx beam of a UE corresponding to a Tx beam of Message 4 used by the AN for a contention-based random access process, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 is determined based on the Tx beam indicated by Message 1.

[0229] Example 89 includes the method of Example 87 or 88, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 is the same as the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 2 for the contention-based random access procedure.

[0230] Example 90 includes the method of Example 85, wherein Message 3 includes a beam report message for reporting an available Tx beam of the AN, and wherein the method further includes monitoring Message 4 at an Rx beam of the UE corresponding to the Tx beam of Message 4 used by the AN for a contention-based random access procedure, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 is determined based on: a Tx beam with a maximum RSRP among the available Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the available Tx beams indicated by the beam report message.

[0231] Example 91 includes the method of any one of Examples 87 to 90, wherein the method further includes: when the Rx beam of the UE is not configured with the TCI state, performing TCI state reconfiguration for the UE based on transmission configuration indication (TCI) state configuration information from the AN.

[0232] Example 92 includes a method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: generating Message 1 of a contention-free random access procedure, wherein Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request or a non-beam failure recovery message; and causing Message 1 to be transmitted to an AN.

[0233] Example 93 includes the method of Example 92, wherein Message 1 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes: a new data arrival request message; or a switching request message.

[0234] Example 94 includes the method of Example 93, wherein Message 1 includes a new data arrival request message, and wherein the method further includes: monitoring Message 2 at an Rx beam of the UE corresponding to the Tx beam of Message 2 used by the AN for a contention-free random access procedure, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 2 is determined to be a Tx beam that has been activated before the contention-free random access procedure.

[0235] Example 95 includes the method of Example 92, wherein Message 1 is used to indicate the Tx beam of the AN; and wherein the method further includes: monitoring Message 2 at the Rx beam of the UE corresponding to the Tx beam of Message 2 used by the AN for a contention-free random access process, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 2 is determined to be the Tx beam indicated by Message 1.

[0236] Example 96 includes the method of Example 94 or 95, wherein the method further comprises: when the Rx beam of the UE is not configured with the TCI state, performing TCI state reconfiguration for the UE based on transmission configuration indication (TCI) state configuration information from the AN.

[0237] Example 97 includes a method performed by an access node (AN), the method comprising: determining a target Tx beam used by the AN for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) based on Tx beam information transmitted from a user equipment (UE), wherein the Tx beam information is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams of the AN; and transmitting the PDCCH to the UE using the target Tx beam.

[0238] Example 98 includes the method of Example 97, wherein the Tx beam information is to be sent to the AN via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the target Tx beam of the AN is to be used as a beam for transmitting a response to the Tx beam information from the AN.

[0239] Example 99 includes the method of Example 98, wherein the Tx beam information is carried in the beam failure recovery request.

[0240] Example 100 includes the method of Example 99, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum reference signal received power (RSRP) among one or more candidate Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by Tx beam information.

[0241] Example 101 includes the method of Example 98, wherein the Tx beam information further indicates a failed Tx beam of the AN.

[0242] Example 102 includes the method of Example 101, wherein the one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more new Tx beams, wherein the UE does not have a corresponding transmission configuration indication (TCI) state for each new Tx beam, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more new Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the one or more new Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0243] Example 103 includes the method of Example 101, wherein the one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more TCI-configured Tx beams, wherein the UE has a corresponding TCI state for each TCI-configured Tx beam, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams indicated by Tx beam information.

[0244] Example 104 includes the method of any one of Examples 98 to 103, wherein the response to the Tx beam information is sent via downlink control information (DCI), and wherein: the DCI is encrypted with a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), wherein the RNTI is predefined or configured; the DCI is received in a control resource set (CORESET), wherein the beam corresponding to the CORESET is not faulty; or the DCI has a dedicated DCI format.

[0245] Example 105 includes the method of Example 97, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting TCI state configuration information or TCI state activation information for the UE from the AN.

[0246] Example 106 includes the method of Example 105, wherein: if one or more candidate Tx beams include a Tx beam with an activated TCI state, determining the target Tx beam of the AN based on the Tx beam with the activated TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams; if there is no Tx beam with the activated TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams, determining the target Tx beam of the AN based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP in one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam in one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state indicated by the Tx beam information; or if there is no Tx beam configured with the TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx, determining the target Tx beam of the AN based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP in one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam in one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0247] Example 107 includes the method of Example 97, wherein one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, Tx beam information is sent to the AN via Message 1 of a contention-based random access procedure, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure.

[0248] Example 108 includes the method of Example 107, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be a single Tx beam indicated via Message 1.

[0249] Example 109 includes the method of Example 107 or 108, wherein the method further includes: receiving Message 3 of a contention-based random access process from the UE, wherein Message 3 includes: a beam report message for reporting available Tx beams of the AN; or a non-beam fault recovery message.

[0250] Example 110 includes the method of Example 109, wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes: a scheduling request message; a new data arrival request message; an RRC reconstruction request message; or a switching request message.

[0251] Example 111 includes the method of Example 97, wherein Tx beam information is sent to the AN via Message 3 of a contention-based random access procedure, the Tx beam information includes a beam report message, the beam report message is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams, and the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure.

[0252] Example 112 includes the method of Example 111, wherein the Tx beam of the AN for Message 4 is determined based on: a Tx beam with a maximum RSRP among one or more candidate Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by a beam report message.

[0253] Example 113 includes the method of Example 97, wherein one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, Tx beam information will be sent to the AN via Message 1 of a contention-free random access procedure, the target Tx beam of the AN will be used as a beam for transmitting Message 2 of the contention-free random access procedure, and the target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be the single Tx beam indicated via Message 1, and wherein Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request or a non-beam failure recovery message.

[0254] Example 114 includes the method of Example 113, wherein Message 1 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes a new data arrival request message or a switching request message.

[0255] Example 115 includes the method of any one of Examples 97 to 114, wherein the method further includes: when the UE does not have a configured TCI state for the UE's Rx beam corresponding to the target Tx beam of the AN, generating TCI state configuration information for the UE to perform TCI state reconfiguration.

[0256] Example 116 includes the method of any one of Examples 97 to 115, wherein the AN includes a next generation NodeB (gNB).

[0257] Example 117 includes a method performed by an access node (AN), the method comprising: receiving Message 3 of a contention-based random access procedure from a user equipment (UE), wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam failure recovery message or a beam report message for reporting an available Tx beam of the AN; determining a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure; and causing Message 4 to be transmitted to the UE.

[0258] Example 118 includes the method of Example 117, wherein the non-beam failure recovery message includes: a scheduling request message; a new data arrival request message; an RRC reconstruction request message; or a switching request message.

[0259] Example 119 includes the method of Example 117, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is determined based on Message 1 of a contention-based random access process from the UE, wherein Message 1 is used to indicate the Tx beam of the AN, and the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is determined to be the Tx beam indicated by Message 1.

[0260] Example 120 includes the method of Example 117, wherein Message 3 includes a beam report message for reporting an available Tx beam of the AN, and wherein the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is determined based on: a Tx beam with a maximum RSRP among the available Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the available Tx beams indicated by the beam report message.

[0261] Example 121 includes the method of Example 117, wherein a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is determined to be a Tx beam that has been activated before the contention-based random access procedure.

[0262] Example 122 includes the method of any one of Examples 117 to 121, wherein a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is the same as a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2 of a contention-based random access procedure.

[0263] Example 123 includes the method of any one of Examples 117 to 122, wherein the method further includes: when the UE does not have a configured TCI state for the UE's Rx beam corresponding to the beam transmitting Message 4 of the AN, generating transmission configuration indication (TCI) state configuration information for the UE to perform TCI state reconfiguration.

[0264] Example 124 includes a method performed by an access node (AN), the method comprising: receiving Message 1 for a contention-free random access procedure from a user equipment (UE), wherein Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request or a non-beam failure recovery message; determining a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2 for the contention-free random access procedure; and causing Message 2 to be transmitted to the UE.

[0265] Example 125 includes the method of Example 124, wherein the non-beam failure recovery message comprises: a new data arrival request message; or a switch request message.

[0266] Example 126 includes the method of Example 125, wherein Message 1 includes a new data arrival request message, and wherein a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2 is determined to be a Tx beam that has been activated before the contention-free random access procedure.

[0267] Example 127 includes the method of Example 124, wherein Message 1 is used to indicate a Tx beam of the AN, and wherein the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2 is determined to be the Tx beam indicated by Message 1.

[0268] Example 128 includes a method of any one of Examples 124 to 127, wherein the method further includes: when the UE does not have a configured TCI state for the UE's Rx beam corresponding to the beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2, generating transmission configuration indication (TCI) state configuration information for the UE to perform TCI state reconfiguration.

[0269] Example 129 includes an apparatus of a user equipment (UE), comprising: a component for detecting one or more transmit (Tx) beams of an access node (AN); selecting one or more candidate Tx beams based on the detection; a component for generating Tx beam information for transmission to the AN, wherein the Tx beam information is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams; and a component for monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) at a receive (Rx) beam corresponding to a target Tx beam for the AN for the PDCCH, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam information.

[0270] Example 130 includes the apparatus of Example 129, wherein the Tx beam information is to be sent to the AN via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the target Tx beam of the AN is to be used as a beam for transmitting a response to the Tx beam information from the AN.

[0271] Example 131 includes the apparatus of Example 130, wherein the Tx beam information is carried in the beam failure recovery request.

[0272] Example 132 includes the apparatus of Example 131, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum reference signal received power (RSRP) among one or more candidate Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by Tx beam information.

[0273] Example 133 includes the apparatus of Example 130, wherein the Tx beam information further indicates a failed Tx beam of the AN.

[0274] Example 134 includes the apparatus of Example 133, wherein the one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more new Tx beams, wherein the UE does not have a corresponding transmission configuration indication (TCI) state for each new Tx beam, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more new Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the one or more new Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0275] Example 135 includes the apparatus of Example 133, wherein the one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more TCI-configured Tx beams, wherein the UE has a corresponding TCI state for each TCI-configured Tx beam, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams indicated by Tx beam information.

[0276] Example 136 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 130 to 135, wherein a response to the Tx beam information is received via downlink control information (DCI), and the apparatus further comprises a component for determining that the Tx beam information has been successfully received by the AN in the following circumstances: the DCI is encrypted with a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), wherein the RNTI is predefined or configured; the DCI is received in a control resource set (CORESET), wherein the beam corresponding to the CORESET is not faulty; or the DCI has a dedicated DCI format.

[0277] Example 137 includes the apparatus of Example 129, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting TCI state configuration information or TCI state activation information for the UE from the AN.

[0278] Example 138 includes the apparatus of Example 137, wherein: if one or more candidate Tx beams include a Tx beam with an activated TCI state, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the activated TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams; if there is no Tx beam with the activated TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP in one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam in one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state indicated by the Tx beam information; or if there is no Tx beam configured with the TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP in one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam in one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0279] Example 139 includes the apparatus of Example 129, wherein the one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, the Tx beam information is sent to the AN via Message 1 of a contention-based random access procedure, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure.

[0280] Example 140 includes the apparatus of Example 139, wherein a target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be a single Tx beam indicated via Message 1.

[0281] Example 141 includes the apparatus of Example 139 or 140, wherein the apparatus further comprises: a component for generating Message 3 for a contention-based random access process for transmission to an AN, wherein Message 3 comprises: a beam report message for reporting an available Tx beam of the AN; or a non-beam fault recovery message.

[0282] Example 142 includes the apparatus of Example 141, wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes: a scheduling request message; a new data arrival request message; an RRC reconstruction request message; or a switching request message.

[0283] Example 143 includes the apparatus of Example 129, wherein Tx beam information is sent to the AN via Message 3 of a contention-based random access procedure, the Tx beam information includes a beam report message, the beam report message is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams, and the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure.

[0284] Example 144 includes the apparatus of Example 143, wherein the apparatus further comprises: a component for monitoring Message 4 at an Rx beam of a UE corresponding to a target Tx beam of the AN for Message 4, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN for Message 4 is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among one or more candidate Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by a beam report message.

[0285] Example 145 includes the apparatus of Example 129, wherein one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, Tx beam information will be sent to the AN via Message 1 of a contention-free random access procedure, the target Tx beam of the AN will be used as a beam for transmitting Message 2 of the contention-free random access procedure, and the target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be the single Tx beam indicated via Message 1, and wherein Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request or a non-beam failure recovery message.

[0286] Example 146 includes the apparatus of Example 145, wherein Message 1 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes a new data arrival request message or a switching request message.

[0287] Example 147 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 129 to 146, wherein the apparatus further includes: a component for performing TCI state reconfiguration for the UE based on TCI state configuration information from the AN when the Rx beam of the UE corresponding to the target Tx beam of the AN is not configured with the TCI state.

[0288] Example 148 includes the apparatus of any one of Examples 129 to 147, wherein the AN comprises a next generation NodeB (gNB).

[0289] Example 149 includes a device of a user equipment (UE), comprising: a component for generating Message 3 for a contention-based random access process, wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam failure recovery message or a beam report message for indicating an available Tx beam of the AN; and a component for sending Message 3 to an access node (AN).

[0290] Example 150 includes the apparatus of Example 149, wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam failure recovery message, the non-beam failure recovery message including: a scheduling request message; a new data arrival request message; an RRC reconstruction request message; or a switching request message.

[0291] Example 151 includes the apparatus of Example 150, wherein the apparatus further comprises: a component for monitoring Message 4 at an Rx beam of a UE corresponding to a Tx beam of Message 4 used by the AN for a contention-based random access procedure, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 is determined based on a Tx beam activated before the contention-based random access procedure, and wherein Message 3 includes a scheduling request message or a new data arrival request message.

[0292] Example 152 includes the apparatus of Example 149, wherein the apparatus further includes: a component for generating Message 1 for a contention-based random access procedure for transmission to an AN, wherein Message 1 is used to indicate a Tx beam of the AN; and a component for monitoring Message 4 at an Rx beam of a UE corresponding to a Tx beam of Message 4 used by the AN for a contention-based random access procedure, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 is determined based on the Tx beam indicated by Message 1.

[0293] Example 153 includes the apparatus of Example 151 or 152, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 is the same as the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 2 for the contention-based random access procedure.

[0294] Example 154 includes the apparatus of Example 149, wherein Message 3 includes a beam report message for reporting an available Tx beam of the AN, and wherein the apparatus further includes a component for monitoring Message 4 at an Rx beam of the UE corresponding to the Tx beam of Message 4 used by the AN for a contention-based random access procedure, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 4 is determined based on: a Tx beam with a maximum RSRP among the available Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the available Tx beams indicated by the beam report message.

[0295] Example 155 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 151 to 154, wherein the apparatus further includes: a component for performing TCI state reconfiguration for the UE based on transmission configuration indication (TCI) state configuration information from an AN when the UE's Rx beam is not configured with the TCI state.

[0296] Example 156 includes an apparatus of a user equipment (UE), comprising: a component for generating Message 1 for a contention-free random access procedure, wherein Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request or a non-beam failure recovery message; and a component for transmitting Message 1 to an AN.

[0297] Example 157 includes the apparatus of Example 156, wherein Message 1 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, the non-beam fault recovery message including: a new data arrival request message; or a switching request message.

[0298] Example 158 includes the apparatus of Example 157, wherein Message 1 includes a new data arrival request message, and wherein the apparatus further includes: a component for monitoring Message 2 at an Rx beam of a UE corresponding to a Tx beam of Message 2 used by the AN for a contention-free random access procedure, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 2 is determined to be a Tx beam that has been activated before the contention-free random access procedure.

[0299] Example 159 includes the apparatus of Example 156, wherein Message 1 is used to indicate a Tx beam of an AN; and wherein the apparatus further comprises: a component for monitoring Message 2 at an Rx beam of a UE corresponding to a Tx beam of Message 2 used by the AN for a contention-free random access process, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN for Message 2 is determined to be the Tx beam indicated by Message 1.

[0300] Example 160 includes the apparatus of Example 158 or 159, wherein the apparatus further comprises: a component for performing TCI state reconfiguration for the UE based on transmission configuration indication (TCI) state configuration information from the AN when the Rx beam of the UE is not configured with the TCI state.

[0301] Example 161 includes an apparatus of an access node (AN), comprising: a component for determining a target Tx beam used by the AN for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) based on Tx beam information transmitted from a user equipment (UE), wherein the Tx beam information is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams of the AN; and a component for transmitting the PDCCH to the UE using the target Tx beam.

[0302] Example 162 includes the apparatus of Example 161, wherein the Tx beam information is to be sent to the AN via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the target Tx beam of the AN is to be used as a beam for transmitting a response to the Tx beam information from the AN.

[0303] Example 163 includes the apparatus of Example 162, wherein the Tx beam information is carried in the beam failure recovery request.

[0304] Example 164 includes the apparatus of Example 163, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum reference signal received power (RSRP) among one or more candidate Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by Tx beam information.

[0305] Example 165 includes the apparatus of Example 162, wherein the Tx beam information further indicates a failed Tx beam of the AN.

[0306] Example 166 includes the apparatus of Example 165, wherein the one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more new Tx beams, wherein the UE does not have a corresponding transmission configuration indication (TCI) state for each new Tx beam, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more new Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the one or more new Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0307] Example 167 includes the apparatus of Example 165, wherein the one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more TCI-configured Tx beams, wherein the UE has a corresponding TCI state for each TCI-configured Tx beam, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the one or more TCI-configured Tx beams indicated by Tx beam information.

[0308] Example 168 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 162 to 167, wherein a response to the Tx beam information is sent via downlink control information (DCI), and wherein: the DCI is encrypted with a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), wherein the RNTI is predefined or configured; the DCI is received in a control resource set (CORESET), wherein a beam corresponding to the CORESET is not faulty; or the DCI has a dedicated DCI format.

[0309] Example 169 includes the apparatus of Example 161, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting TCI state configuration information or TCI state activation information for the UE from the AN.

[0310] Example 170 includes the apparatus of Example 169, wherein: if one or more candidate Tx beams include a Tx beam with an activated TCI state, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the activated TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams; if there is no Tx beam with the activated TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP in one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam in one or more Tx beams configured with the TCI state indicated by the Tx beam information; or if there is no Tx beam configured with the TCI state in the one or more candidate Tx, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam with the maximum RSRP in one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam in one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information.

[0311] Example 171 includes the apparatus of Example 161, wherein one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, Tx beam information is sent to the AN via Message 1 of a contention-based random access procedure, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure.

[0312] Example 172 includes the apparatus of Example 171, wherein a target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be a single Tx beam indicated via Message 1.

[0313] Example 173 includes the apparatus of Example 171 or 172, wherein the apparatus further comprises: a component for receiving Message 3 of a contention-based random access process from a UE, wherein Message 3 comprises: a beam report message for reporting available Tx beams of the AN; or a non-beam fault recovery message.

[0314] Example 174 includes the apparatus of Example 173, wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes: a scheduling request message; a new data arrival request message; an RRC reconstruction request message; or a switching request message.

[0315] Example 175 includes the apparatus of Example 161, wherein Tx beam information is sent to the AN via Message 3 of a contention-based random access procedure, the Tx beam information includes a beam report message, the beam report message is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams, and the target Tx beam of the AN is used as a beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure.

[0316] Example 176 includes the apparatus of Example 175, wherein the Tx beam of the AN for Message 4 is determined based on: a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among one or more candidate Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by a beam report message.

[0317] Example 177 includes the apparatus of Example 161, wherein one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, Tx beam information will be sent to the AN via Message 1 of a contention-free random access procedure, the target Tx beam of the AN will be used as a beam for transmitting Message 2 of the contention-free random access procedure, and the target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be the single Tx beam indicated via Message 1, and wherein Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request or a non-beam failure recovery message.

[0318] Example 178 includes the apparatus of Example 177, wherein Message 1 includes a non-beam fault recovery message, and the non-beam fault recovery message includes a new data arrival request message or a switching request message.

[0319] Example 179 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 161 to 178, wherein the apparatus further includes: a component for generating TCI state configuration information for the UE to perform TCI state reconfiguration when the UE does not have a configured TCI state for the UE's Rx beam corresponding to the target Tx beam of the AN.

[0320] Example 180 includes the apparatus of any one of Examples 161 to 179, wherein the AN includes a next generation NodeB (gNB).

[0321] Example 181 includes an apparatus of an access node (AN), comprising: a component for receiving Message 3 for a contention-based random access procedure from a user equipment (UE), wherein Message 3 includes a non-beam failure recovery message or a beam report message for reporting an available Tx beam of the AN; a component for determining a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 for a contention-based random access procedure; and a component for enabling transmission of Message 4 to the UE.

[0322] Example 182 includes the apparatus of Example 181, wherein the non-beam failure recovery message includes: a scheduling request message; a new data arrival request message; an RRC reconstruction request message; or a switching request message.

[0323] Example 183 includes the apparatus of Example 181, wherein the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is determined based on Message 1 of a contention-based random access process from the UE, wherein Message 1 is used to indicate the Tx beam of the AN, and the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is determined to be the Tx beam indicated by Message 1.

[0324] Example 184 includes the apparatus of Example 181, wherein Message 3 includes a beam report message for reporting an available Tx beam of the AN, and wherein the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is determined based on: a Tx beam with a maximum RSRP among the available Tx beams; or a first Tx beam among the available Tx beams indicated by the beam report message.

[0325] Example 185 includes the apparatus of Example 181, wherein a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is determined to be a Tx beam that has been activated prior to the contention-based random access procedure.

[0326] Example 186 includes the apparatus of any one of Examples 181 to 185, wherein a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4 is the same as a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2 of a contention-based random access procedure.

[0327] Example 187 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 181 to 186, wherein the apparatus further includes: a component for generating transmission configuration indication (TCI) state configuration information for the UE to perform TCI state reconfiguration when the UE does not have a configured TCI state for the UE's Rx beam corresponding to the beam used by the AN to transmit Message 4.

[0328] Example 188 includes an apparatus of an access node (AN), comprising: a component for receiving Message 1 for a contention-free random access procedure from a user equipment (UE), wherein Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request or a non-beam failure recovery message; a component for determining a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2 for the contention-free random access procedure; and a component for enabling transmission of Message 2 to the UE.

[0329] Example 189 includes the apparatus of Example 188, wherein the non-beam failure recovery message comprises: a new data arrival request message; or a switching request message.

[0330] Example 190 includes the apparatus of Example 189, wherein Message 1 includes a new data arrival request message, and wherein a Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2 is determined to be a Tx beam that has been activated before the contention-free random access procedure.

[0331] Example 191 includes the apparatus of Example 188, wherein Message 1 is used to indicate a Tx beam of the AN, and wherein the Tx beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2 is determined to be the Tx beam indicated by Message 1.

[0332] Example 192 includes an apparatus of any one of Examples 188 to 191, wherein the apparatus further includes: a component for generating transmission configuration indication (TCI) state configuration information for the UE to perform TCI state reconfiguration when the UE does not have a configured TCI state for the UE's Rx beam corresponding to the beam used by the AN to transmit Message 2.

[0333] Example 193 includes one or more computer-readable media having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor circuit, cause the processor circuit to perform a method as in any one of Examples 65 to 96.

[0334] Example 194 includes one or more computer-readable media having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor circuit, cause the processor circuit to perform a method as in any one of Examples 97 to 128.

[0335] Example 195 includes a user equipment (UE) as described and shown in the specification.

[0336] Example 196 includes an access node (AN) as described and illustrated in the specification.

[0337] Example 197 includes a method performed by a user equipment (UE) as described and shown in the specification.

[0338] Example 198 includes a method performed by an access node (AN) as described and illustrated in the specification.

[0339] Although certain embodiments are illustrated and described herein for descriptive purposes, various alternative and / or equivalent embodiments or implementations planned to achieve the same purpose may replace the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. This application is intended to cover any adaptation or variation of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is readily understood that the embodiments described herein are limited only by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A device comprising: Memory; and a processor circuit for accessing the memory via one or more memory interfaces, Wherein, the processor circuit is used for: Detecting one or more transmit Tx beams of the access node AN; selecting one or more candidate Tx beams based on the detection; In response to a beam failure event, generating Tx beam information for transmission to the AN, wherein the Tx beam information is used to indicate the one or more candidate Tx beams, wherein the Tx beam information is carried in a beam failure recovery request; and monitoring the PDCCH at a receiving Rx beam corresponding to a target Tx beam of the AN for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on the Tx beam information, wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is to be used as a beam for transmitting transmission configuration indication (TCI) state configuration information or TCI state activation information for the device from the AN, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN is determined as follows: If the one or more candidate Tx beams include a Tx beam having an activated TCI state, determining a target Tx beam of the AN based on the Tx beam having the activated TCI state among the one or more candidate Tx beams; If there is no Tx beam with an activated TCI state among the one or more candidate Tx beams, the target Tx beam of the AN is determined based on a Tx beam with a maximum reference signal received power RSRP among one or more Tx beams configured with a TCI state among the one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam among the one or more Tx beams configured with a TCI state indicated by the Tx beam information; or If there is no Tx beam configured with a TCI state in the one or more candidate Txs, determining the target Tx beam of the AN based on the Tx beam having the maximum RSRP in the one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam in the one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information; and The memory is used to store information related to the target Tx beam of the AN.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The Tx beam information will be transmitted to the AN through a physical uplink control channel PUCCH, and the target Tx beam of the AN will be used as a beam for transmitting a response to the Tx beam information from the AN.

3. The device as claimed in claim 2, wherein: The Tx beam information also indicates a failed Tx beam of the AN.

4. The device according to claim 3, wherein: The one or more candidate Tx beams include one or more new Tx beams, wherein the device does not have a corresponding TCI state for each new Tx beam.

5. The device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein: A response to the Tx beam information is received via downlink control information DCI, and the processor circuit is configured to determine that the Tx beam information has been successfully received by the AN in the following circumstances: The DCI is scrambled with a radio network temporary identifier RNTI, wherein the RNTI is predefined or configured; The DCI is received in a control resource set CORESET, wherein a beam corresponding to the CORESET does not fail; or The DCI has a dedicated DCI format.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, the Tx beam information will be sent to the AN through Message 1 of the contention-based random access procedure, and wherein the target Tx beam of the AN will be used as a beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access procedure.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein: The target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be the single Tx beam indicated via the Message 1.

8. The device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein: The processor circuit is used to: generate Message 3 of the contention-based random access process to transmit to the AN, Wherein, the Message 3 includes: A beam report message is used to report the available Tx beams of the AN.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein: The Tx beam information will be sent to the AN via Message 3 of the contention-based random access process, and the Tx beam information includes a beam report message, which is used to indicate the one or more candidate Tx beams, and the target Tx beam of the AN will be used as the beam for transmitting Message 4 of the contention-based random access process.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein: The processor circuit is used to monitor the Message 4 at an Rx beam of the device corresponding to a target Tx beam of the AN for the Message 4.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein: The one or more candidate Tx beams include a single Tx beam, the Tx beam information will be sent to the AN via Message 1 of the contention-free random access procedure, the target Tx beam of the AN will be used as the beam for transmitting Message 2 of the contention-free random access procedure, and the target Tx beam of the AN is determined to be the single Tx beam indicated via the Message 1, and wherein the Message 1 includes a beam failure recovery request.

12. The device of any one of claims 1 to 4, 6, 7 and 9 to 11, wherein: The processor circuit is configured to: when an Rx beam of the device corresponding to a target Tx beam of the AN is not configured with a TCI state, perform TCI state reconfiguration for the device based on the TCI state configuration information from the AN.

13. The device of any one of claims 1 to 4, 6, 7 and 9 to 11, wherein: The AN includes the next generation NodeBgNB.

14. An apparatus comprising: Memory; and a processor circuit for accessing said memory via one or more memory interfaces, Wherein, the processor circuit is used for: Based on transmit Tx beam information sent from a user equipment UE, a target Tx beam for a physical downlink control channel PDCCH of the device is determined, wherein the Tx beam information is used to indicate one or more candidate Tx beams of the device, wherein, in response to a beam failure event, the Tx beam information is carried in a beam failure recovery request, wherein the target Tx beam of the device is to be used as a beam for transmitting transmission configuration indication TCI state configuration information or TCI state activation information for the UE from the device, and wherein the target Tx beam of the device is determined as follows: If the one or more candidate Tx beams include a Tx beam having an activated TCI state, determining a target Tx beam of the device based on the Tx beam having the activated TCI state among the one or more candidate Tx beams; If there is no Tx beam with an activated TCI state among the one or more candidate Tx beams, determining the target Tx beam of the device based on a Tx beam with a maximum reference signal received power RSRP among one or more Tx beams configured with a TCI state among the one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on the first Tx beam among the one or more Tx beams configured with a TCI state indicated by the Tx beam information; or If there is no Tx beam configured with a TCI state among the one or more candidate Tx beams, determining a target Tx beam of the device based on a Tx beam having a maximum RSRP among the one or more candidate Tx beams, or based on a first Tx beam among the one or more candidate Tx beams indicated by the Tx beam information; and The PDCCH is transmitted to the UE using the target Tx beam; and wherein the memory is used to store information related to the target Tx beam.

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