Apparatus and method for beam refinement for inactive state data transmission

Abstract

Apparatuses and methods for beam refinement for inactive state data transmission are provided. A system and method for beam refinement for inactive mode transmission in frequency range 2 for 3GPP RedCap devices are disclosed. A RedCap device receives system information in a SIB1 from a wireless communication network, wherein the SIB1 includes information related to an indication of resources for transmitting a SIB-x. The device receives the SIB-x, wherein the SIB-x includes at least one resource, at least one configuration for downlink reference signal (DL- RS) transmission, and an indication of information related to a measurement report related to beam refinement measurements to be performed by the device. The device receives the DL-RS transmission from the wireless communication network, performs the beam refinement measurements, and transmits the measurement report to the wireless communication network. After transmitting the measurement report, the device transmits an enhanced transmission to the wireless communication network based on the measurement report.

Description

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 038,733, filed June 12, 2020, and U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 324,095, filed May 18, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0002] The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to wireless communication systems. More specifically, the subject matter disclosed herein relates to apparatus and methods for beam refinement in inactive user equipment for fifth-generation (5G) technology standards used in cellular networks. Background Technology

[0003] In cellular systems, New Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE) can be in an NR RRC_connected state, an NR RRC_inactive state, or an NR RRC_idle state. At any given time, a UE can be in only one RRC state in NR. The goal in the 3GPP Release 17 (Rel-17) Study Project Description (SID) for Reduced Capability (RedCap) New Radio (NR) devices is to support the same set of use cases in Frequency Range 2 (FR2) as in Frequency Range 1 (FR1). Beam refinement can be a key feature for FR2 operation in NR. Important issues may involve implementing the beam refinement process for RedCap UEs in an RRC_inactive state. Summary of the Invention

[0004] An example embodiment provides an apparatus that may include a transceiver and a processing device. The transceiver may be coupled to a wireless communication network. The processing device may be coupled to the transceiver, and when the apparatus is inactive, the processing device may be configured to control the transceiver to perform the following operations: receive system information in System Information Block 1 (SIB1) from the wireless communication network, wherein SIB1 may include information relating to indications of resources for transmitting SIB-x by the wireless communication network; receive SIB-x from the wireless communication network, wherein SIB-x may include indications of at least one resource, at least one configuration for downlink reference signal (DL-RS) transmission by the wireless communication network, and information relating to a measurement report relating to beamforming measurements to be performed by the apparatus; and receive DL-RS transmissions from the wireless communication network. In one embodiment, the apparatus may be a Reduced Capability (RedCap) user equipment, and the wireless communication network may be a 5G wireless communication network. In one embodiment, SIB-x may be transmitted periodically by the wireless communication network. In another embodiment, the device may be in an inactive state, and the processing device may also be configured to control the transceiver to perform the following operations: send an on-demand SIB-x request to the wireless communication network, and receive SIB-x data sent by the wireless communication network in response to the on-demand SIB-x request. In another embodiment, DL-RS transmissions may be periodically transmitted by the wireless communication network. In another embodiment, DL-RS transmissions may be transmitted by the wireless communication network in response to an on-demand DL-RS request sent by the device to the wireless communication network. In one embodiment, when the device is in the inactive state, the processing device may also be configured to control the transceiver to perform the following operations: perform beamfinding measurements, and send a measurement report to the wireless communication network. Additionally, when the device is in the inactive state, the processing device may also be configured to control the transceiver to send enhanced transmissions to the wireless communication network based on the measurement reports.

[0005] An example embodiment provides a base station in a wireless communication network, wherein the base station may include a first transceiver and a first processing device. The first processing device may be coupled to the first transceiver and configured to: transmit system information in SIB1 to a device wirelessly coupled to the wireless communication network, wherein SIB1 may include information relating to indications of resources for transmitting SIB-x by the wireless communication network, wherein the device may be in an inactive state; transmit SIB-x to the device, wherein SIB-x may include indications of at least one resource, at least one configuration for DL-RS transmissions performed by the wireless communication network, and information relating to a measurement report, wherein the measurement report relates to beamforming measurements to be performed by the device; and transmit DL-RS transmissions to the device. In one embodiment, the device may be a RedCap user equipment, and the wireless communication network may be a 5G wireless communication network. In one embodiment, SIB-x may be transmitted periodically by the base station. In another embodiment, the first processing device may further control the first transceiver to transmit SIB-x to the device in response to an on-demand SIB-x request received from the device. In another embodiment, DL-RS transmissions may be transmitted periodically by the base station. In another embodiment, the first processing device may further control the first transceiver to send DL-RS transmissions to the device in response to an on-demand DL-RS request received from the device. The device may include a second transceiver and a second processing device. The second transceiver may be coupled to a wireless communication network. The second processing device may be coupled to the second transceiver, wherein the second processing device may be configured to: receive system information in SIB1, receive SIB-X, receive DL-RS transmissions, perform beamfinding measurements, and send measurement reports to the wireless communication network. The first processing device may also control the first transceiver to receive measurement reports from the device. Additionally, the first processing device may control the first transceiver to receive enhanced transmissions from the device based on the measurement reports.

[0006] An example embodiment provides a method for performing beamfinding measurements in a wireless communication network, wherein the method may include: receiving system information in SIB1 from the wireless communication network by a device, wherein SIB1 may include information relating to indications of resources for transmitting SIB-x by the wireless communication network, the device being in an inactive state; receiving SIB-x from the wireless communication network by the device, wherein SIB-x may include indications of at least one resource, at least one configuration for DL-RS transmissions performed by the wireless communication network, and information relating to a measurement report, wherein the measurement report relates to beamfinding measurements to be performed by the device; and receiving DL-RS transmissions from the wireless communication network by the device. In one embodiment, the device may be a RedCap user equipment, and the wireless communication network may be a 5G wireless communication network. In one embodiment, SIB-x may be transmitted periodically by the wireless communication network. In another embodiment, SIB-x may be transmitted by the wireless communication network in response to an on-demand SIB-x request sent by the device to the wireless communication network. In one embodiment, DL-RS transmissions may be transmitted periodically by the wireless communication network. In another embodiment, DL-RS transmissions may be sent by a wireless communication network in response to an on-demand DL-RS request sent by the device to the wireless communication network. In another embodiment, the method may further include: performing beamfinding measurements by the device; and sending a measurement report to the wireless communication network by the device. In another embodiment, the method may further include sending enhanced transmissions to the wireless communication network by the device based on the measurement report. Attached Figure Description

[0007] In the following sections, aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein will be described with reference to exemplary embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0008] Figure 1 Example embodiments of wireless communication networks based on the subject matter disclosed herein are depicted;

[0009] Figure 2 An example embodiment of a base station based on the subject matter disclosed herein is depicted;

[0010] Figure 3 Example embodiments of a UE based on the subject matter disclosed herein are depicted;

[0011] Figure 4A An example embodiment of a downlink slot structure based on the subject matter disclosed herein is depicted;

[0012] Figure 4B An example embodiment of an uplink timeslot structure 410 for physical uplink shared channel transmission or physical uplink control channel transmission, in accordance with the subject matter disclosed herein, is described.

[0013] Figure 5A A block diagram depicts an example embodiment of a transmitter structure using OFDM according to the subject matter disclosed herein;

[0014] Figure 5B A block diagram depicting an example embodiment of an OFDM receiver structure based on the subject matter disclosed herein;

[0015] Figure 6A and 6B A comparison of the signaling involved in conventional idle-to-connection transition and inactive-to-connection transition according to the subject matter disclosed herein is shown respectively;

[0016] Figure 7 An overview of the UE RRC state machine and state transitions in NR is shown;

[0017] Figure 8 An overview of beam management in RRC_connected state is shown;

[0018] Figure 9 An overview of example message sequences for system information requests using a contention-free random access procedure is provided;

[0019] Figure 10 An overview of example message sequences for system information requests using a contention-based random access procedure is provided;

[0020] Figure 11 An overview of example message passing sequences for the beam refinement process for a UE in an RRC_inactive state, based on the topics disclosed herein, is provided.

[0021] Figure 12 Another example message passing sequence is described, based on the subject matter disclosed herein, for a beam refinement process for a UE in an RRC_inactive state;

[0022] Figure 13 An example radio resource configuration for beam refinement of periodic synchronization signal blocks for wide beam scanning and DL RS and SIBx for narrow beam scanning is described in accordance with the subject matter disclosed herein.

[0023] Figure 14 Example radio resource configurations for beam refinement of conventional periodic synchronization signal blocks for wide-beam scanning and new synchronization signal blocks for narrow-beam scanning are depicted in accordance with the subject matter disclosed herein.

[0024] Figure 15Example radio resource configurations for beam refinement of conventional periodic synchronization signal blocks for wide-beam scanning and CSI-RS for narrow-beam scanning, according to the subject matter disclosed herein, are depicted; and

[0025] Figure 16 This is a flowchart of an example method for performing beam refinement measurements in a wireless communication network based on the subject matter disclosed herein. Detailed Implementation

[0026] In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of this disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the disclosed aspects can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, processes, components, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the subject matter of this disclosure.

[0027] Throughout this specification, references to "an embodiment" or "an embodiment" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment disclosed herein. Therefore, the phrases "in an embodiment," "in an embodiment," or "according to an embodiment" (or other phrases with similar meanings) appearing in various places throughout this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In this regard, as used herein, the word "exemplary" means "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not to be construed as necessarily preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Additionally, particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Moreover, depending on the context discussed herein, singular terms may include corresponding plural forms, and plural terms may include corresponding singular forms. Similarly, hyphenated terms (e.g., "two-dimensional", "pre-determined", "specific pixel", etc.) may occasionally be used interchangeably with their corresponding non-hyphenated versions (e.g., "two-dimensional", "pre-determined", "specific pixel", etc.), and uppercase entries (e.g., "Counter Clock", "Row Selec", "PIXOUT", etc.) may be used interchangeably with their corresponding non-uppercase versions (e.g., "counter clock", "row selec", "pixout", etc.). This occasional interchangeability should not be considered inconsistent with each other.

[0028] Furthermore, depending on the context of this discussion, singular terms may include corresponding plural forms, and plural terms may include corresponding singular forms. It should also be noted that the various figures shown and discussed herein (including component illustrations) are for illustrative purposes only and are not drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some elements may be exaggerated relative to others for clarity. Additionally, where appropriate, reference numerals are repeated in the figures to indicate corresponding and / or similar elements.

[0029] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing some exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to limit the claimed subject matter. As used herein, the singular forms “a” and “described” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprising” and / or “including” as used in this specification specify the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts, and / or combinations thereof.

[0030] It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being on, "connected to," or "coupled to" another element or layer, it can be directly on, connected to, or coupled to the other element or layer, or there may be intermediate elements or layers. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly connected to," or "directly coupled to" another element or layer, there are no intermediate elements or layers. The same reference numerals always denote the same elements. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0031] As used herein, the terms “first,” “second,” etc., are used as labels for nouns preceding them and do not indicate any type of ordering (e.g., spatial, temporal, logical, etc.) unless explicitly defined as such. Furthermore, the same reference numerals may be used across two or more figures to refer to parts, components, blocks, circuits, units, or modules having the same or similar functions. However, this usage is merely for simplicity and ease of discussion; it does not imply that the construction or architectural details of these components or units are identical in all embodiments or that these commonly referenced parts / modules are the only way to implement some of the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein.

[0032] Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein (including technical and scientific terms) shall have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this subject pertains. It will be further understood that terms such as those defined in common dictionaries shall be interpreted as having the same meaning as they have in the context of the relevant field, and shall not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly defined herein.

[0033] As used herein, the term "module" refers to any combination of software, firmware, and / or hardware configured to provide the functionality described herein in conjunction with modules. For example, software may be embodied as a software package, code, and / or instruction set or instructions, and the term "hardware," as used in any implementation described herein, may include, for example, components, hardwired circuitry, programmable circuitry, state machine circuitry, and / or firmware storing instructions executed by programmable circuitry, either individually or in any combination. For example, modules may be embodied collectively or individually as circuitry forming part of a larger system, but are not limited to integrated circuits (ICs), system-on-a-chip (SoCs), components, etc.

[0034] The following description Figures 1-16 The various embodiments used to illustrate the subject matter disclosed herein are merely exemplary and should not be construed in any way as limiting the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein. It should be understood that the subject matter disclosed herein can be implemented in any suitably arranged system or apparatus.

[0035] At least the following documents are incorporated herein by reference, as if fully set forth herein: 3GPP TS 38.211 v15.6.0, “NR; Physical Channels and Modulation”; 3GPP TS 38.212 v15.6.0, “NR; Multiplexing and Channel Coding”; 3GPP TS 38.213 v15.6.0, “NR; Physical Layer Procedures for Control”; 3GPP TS 38.214 v15.6.0, “NR; Physical Layer Procedures for Data”; 3GPP TS 38.321 v15.6.0, “NR; Media Access Control (MAC) Protocol Specification”; and 3GPP TS 38.331 v15.6.0, “NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) Protocol Specification”.

[0036] Figure 1 Figure 5 illustrates various example embodiments of communication technologies implemented and used in wireless communication systems, such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) or Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). Figures 1-3 The description herein does not imply any physical or architectural limitation on the ways in which different embodiments may be implemented. Different embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein can be implemented in any suitably arranged communication system.

[0037] Figure 1 An example embodiment of a wireless communication network 100 according to the subject matter disclosed herein is depicted. Figure 1 The example embodiments of the wireless network depicted herein are for illustrative purposes only. Other embodiments of the wireless network 100 may be used without departing from the principles of the subject matter disclosed herein.

[0038] like Figure 1 The depicted wireless network 100 includes gNB 101 (e.g., a base station BS), gNB 102, and gNB 103. gNB 101 can communicate with gNB 102 and gNB 103. gNB 101 can also communicate with at least one network 130 (such as the Internet, a proprietary Internet Protocol (IP) network, or other data network).

[0039] gNB 102 can provide wireless broadband access to network 130 to a first plurality of UEs within its coverage area 120. The first plurality of UEs may include: UE 111, which may be located in a small business (SB); UE 112, which may be located in a company (E); UE 113, which may be located in a WiFi hotspot (HS); UE 114, which may be located in a first residence (R); UE 115, which may be located in a second residence (R); and UE 116, which may be a mobile device (M), such as, but not limited to, a cellular phone, a wireless laptop computer, a wireless PDA, etc. gNB 103 can provide wireless broadband access to network 130 to a second plurality of UEs within its coverage area 125. The second plurality of UEs may include UE 115 and UE 116. In some embodiments, one or more of gNBs 101 to gNB 103 may communicate with each other and with UEs 111 to UE 116 using 5G / NR, LTE, LTE-A, WiMAX, WiFi, and / or other wireless communication technologies.

[0040] Depending on the network type, the term "base station" or "BS" can refer to any component (or set of components) configured to provide radio access to a network, such as a transmit point (TP), transmit-receive point (TRP), enhanced base station (eNodeB or eNB), 5G / NR base station (gNB), microcell, femtocell, WiFi access point (AP), or other radio-enabled device. A base station can provide radio access according to one or more wireless communication protocols, such as 5G / NR 3GPP New Radio Interface / Access (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac, etc. For convenience, the terms "BS" and "TRP" are used interchangeably herein to refer to network infrastructure components that provide radio access to remote terminals. Furthermore, depending on the network type, the term "user equipment" or "UE" can refer to any component such as "mobile station," "user station," "remote terminal," "radio terminal," "receive point," or "user device." For convenience, the terms “user equipment” and “UE” may be used herein to refer to a remote wireless device of a radio access BS, whether the UE is a mobile device (such as, but not limited to, a mobile phone or a smartphone) or is generally considered to be a fixed device (such as, but not limited to, a desktop computer or a vending machine).

[0041] The dashed lines depict the approximate extent of coverage areas 120 and 125, which are shown as approximately circular for illustrative and explanatory purposes only. It should be clearly understood that, depending on the configuration of the gNB and variations in the radio environment associated with natural and man-made obstacles, the coverage areas associated with the gNB (such as coverage areas 120 and 125) may have other shapes, including irregular shapes.

[0042] As described in more detail below, one or more of UEs 111 to UE 116 may include circuitry, programming, or a combination thereof for effective control signaling designed for improved resource utilization. In a particular embodiment, one or more of gNBs 101 to gNBs 103 may include circuitry, programming, or a combination thereof for effective control signaling designed for improved resource utilization.

[0043] although Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication network is depicted, but it is possible to... Figure 1Various modifications can be made. For example, the wireless communication network 100 can include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement. Furthermore, gNB 101 can communicate directly with any number of UEs and provide these UEs with wireless broadband access to network 130. Similarly, each of gNBs 102 to 103 can communicate directly with network 130 and provide UEs with direct wireless broadband access to network 130. Additionally, gNBs 101, 102, and / or 103 can provide access to other or additional external networks, such as, but not limited to, external telephone networks or other types of data networks.

[0044] Figure 2 An example embodiment of gNB 102 based on the subject matter disclosed herein is depicted. Figure 2 The embodiments of gNB 102 depicted are for illustrative purposes only, and Figure 1 gNB 101 and gNB 103 can have the same or similar configurations. However, gNBs have a wide variety of configurations, and it should be understood that... Figure 2 The scope of the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited to any particular implementation of gNB.

[0045] like Figure 2 As depicted, the gNB 102 may include multiple antennas 201a to 201n, multiple radio frequency (RF) transceivers 202a to 202n, receive (RX) processing circuitry 203, and transmit (TX) processing circuitry 204. The gNB 102 may also include a controller / processor 205, a memory 206, and / or a backhaul or network interface 207.

[0046] RF transceivers 202a to 202n can receive incoming RF signals from antennas 201a to 201n. The received RF signals can be signals transmitted by a UE in network 100. RF transceivers 202a to 202n can down-convert the incoming RF signals to generate IF or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signals can be sent to RX processing circuitry 203, which generates processed baseband signals by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signals. RX processing circuitry 203 can then send the processed baseband signals to controller / processor 205 for further processing.

[0047] The TX processing circuit 204 can receive analog or digital data (such as, but not limited to, voice data, web data, email, or interactive video game data) from the controller / processor 205. The TX processing circuit 204 can encode, multiplex, and / or digitize the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. RF transceivers 202a to 202n can receive the processed baseband or IF signal from the TX processing circuit 204 and can up-convert the baseband or IF signal into an RF signal transmitted via antennas 201a to 201n.

[0048] The controller / processor 205 may include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of the gNB 102. For example, the controller / processor 205 may control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of reverse channel signals via RF transceivers 202a-202n, RX processing circuitry 203, and TX processing circuitry 204, according to known principles. The controller / processor 205 may also support additional functions, such as more advanced wireless communication functions. For example, the controller / processor 205 may support beamforming or directional routing operations in which outgoing signals from multiple antennas 201a-201n and incoming signals arriving at multiple antennas 201a-201n are weighted differently to effectively guide outgoing signals in a desired direction. Any of a wide variety of other functions can be supported in the gNB 102 via the controller / processor 205.

[0049] The controller / processor 205 may also be able to execute programs and other processes, such as an operating system (OS), residing in the memory 206. The controller / processor 205 may move data into or out of the memory 206 as needed for the execution process. A portion of the memory 206 may include random access memory (RAM), and another portion of the memory 206 may include flash memory or other read-only memory (ROM).

[0050] The controller / processor 205 may also be coupled to the backhaul or network interface 207. The backhaul or network interface 207 allows the gNB 102 to communicate with other devices or systems via a backhaul connection or over a network. The backhaul or network interface 207 can support communication via any suitable wired or wireless connection. For example, when the gNB 102 is implemented as part of a cellular communication system (such as a gNB supporting 5G / NR, LTE, or LTE-A), the backhaul or network interface 207 can allow the gNB 102 to communicate with other gNBs via a wired or wireless backhaul connection. When the gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, the backhaul or network interface 207 can allow the gNB 102 to communicate via a wired or wireless local area network or via a wired or wireless connection to a larger network (such as the Internet). The backhaul or network interface 207 may include any suitable architecture supporting communication via a wired or wireless connection, such as an Ethernet or RF transceiver.

[0051] although Figure 2 An example of gNB 102 is depicted, but it is possible to... Figure 2 Various changes can be made. For example, gNB 102 can include any number of Figure 2 Each component shown. As a specific example, an access point may include multiple backhaul or network interfaces 207, and the controller / processor 205 may support routing functionality to route data between different network addresses. As another specific example, although shown as a single instance of TX processing circuitry 204 and a single instance of RX processing circuitry 203, the gNB 102 may include multiple instances of each (such as one per RF transceiver). Furthermore, components may be combined, further subdivided, or omitted. Figure 2 It includes various components and allows for the addition of additional components as needed.

[0052] Figure 3 An example embodiment of UE 116 based on the subject matter disclosed herein is depicted. Figure 3 The embodiment of UE 116 depicted is for illustrative purposes only, and Figure 1 UEs 111 to UE 115 can have the same or similar configurations. However, UEs can have a wide variety of configurations, and Figure 3 The UE is not restricted to any particular implementation of the UE.

[0053] like Figure 3As shown, UE 116 may include an antenna 301, an RF transceiver 302, a TX processing circuit 303, a microphone 304, and an RX processing circuit 305. UE 116 may also include a speaker 306, a processor 307, an input / output (I / O) interface 308, a touchscreen 309 (or other input device), a display 310, and a memory 311. The memory 311 may include an OS 312 and one or more applications 313.

[0054] RF transceiver 302 can receive incoming RF signals transmitted by the gNB of network 100 from antenna 301. RF transceiver 302 can down-convert the incoming RF signals to generate intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signals can be sent to RX processing circuitry 305, which generates processed baseband signals by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signals. RX processing circuitry 305 can then send the processed baseband signals to speaker 306 (e.g., for voice data) or to processor 307 for further processing (e.g., for web browsing data).

[0055] The TX processing circuit 303 can receive analog or digital voice data from the microphone 304, or other outgoing baseband data (such as web data, email, or interactive video game data) from the processor 307. The TX processing circuit 303 can encode, multiplex, and / or digitize the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The RF transceiver 302 can receive the outgoing processed baseband or IF signal from the TX processing circuit 303 and up-convert the baseband or IF signal into an RF signal transmitted via the antenna 301.

[0056] Processor 307 may include one or more processors or other processing devices and may execute OS 312 stored in memory 311 to control the overall operation of UE 116. For example, processor 307 may control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of reverse channel signals through RF transceiver 302, TX processing circuitry 303, and RX processing circuitry 305 according to known principles. In some embodiments, processor 307 may include at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0057] Processor 307 may also be able to execute other processes and programs residing in memory 311, such as processes for beam management. Processor 307 may move data into or out of memory 311 as needed for the execution process. In some embodiments, processor 307 may be configured to execute application 313 based on OS 312 or in response to signals received from gNB or from an operator. Processor 307 may also be coupled to I / O interface 308, which provides UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices, such as, but not limited to, laptop computers and handheld computers. I / O interface 308 is the communication path between these accessories and processor 307.

[0058] The processor 307 can also be coupled to the touchscreen 309 and the display 310. The operator of the UE 116 can use the touchscreen 309 to input data into the UE 116. The display 310 can be a liquid crystal display, a light-emitting diode display, or other display capable of displaying text and / or at least limited graphics from a website.

[0059] The memory 311 may be coupled to the processor 307. A portion of the memory 311 may include RAM, and another portion of the memory 311 may include flash memory or other ROM.

[0060] although Figure 3 An example embodiment of UE 116 is depicted, but other embodiments are possible. Figure 3 Make various changes. For example, you can combine, further subdivide, or omit. Figure 3 The processor 307 can be divided into various components, and additional components can be added as needed. As a specific example, the processor 307 can be divided into multiple processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). Furthermore, although... Figure 3 The UE 116 is depicted as a mobile phone or smartphone, but the UE can be configured to operate as other types of mobile or fixed devices.

[0061] To meet the increased demand for wireless data services since the deployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made to develop improved 5G / NR or near-5G / NR communication systems. Therefore, 5G / NR or near-5G / NR communication systems can also be referred to as "super 4G networks" or "post-LTE systems." 5G / NR communication systems can be considered as being implemented in higher frequency (mmWave) bands (e.g., 28 GHz or 60 GHz bands, or typically above 6 GHz) to achieve higher data rates, or in lower frequency bands (such as below 6 GHz) to enable robust coverage and mobility support. To reduce radio wave propagation loss and increase transmission distance, beamforming, massive MIMO, full-dimensional MIMO (FDMIMO), array antennas, analog beamforming, and massive MIMO technologies are used in 5G / NR communication systems. In addition, in 5G / NR communication systems, development is underway to improve the system network based on advanced small cells, cloud radio access networks (RAN), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, mobile networks, cooperative communication, cooperative multipoint (CoMP), and receiver interference cancellation.

[0062] A communication system may include a downlink (DL) and an uplink (UL), wherein the downlink (DL) refers to the transmission from a base station or one or more transmitting points to the UE, and the uplink (UL) refers to the transmission from the UE to a base station or one or more receiving points.

[0063] The unit used for DL ​​or UL signaling on a cell can be called a time slot and can include one or more symbols. A symbol can also be used as an additional time unit. A frequency (or bandwidth (BW)) unit can be called a resource block (RB). An RB can include multiple subcarriers (SCs). For example, a time slot can have a duration of 0.5 milliseconds or 1 millisecond, include 14 symbols, and an RB can include 12 SCs with inter-SC spacing of 30 kHz or 15 kHz respectively. A unit of one RB in frequency and one symbol in time can be called a physical RB (PRB).

[0064] DL signals may include data signals that transmit information content, control signals that transmit DL control information (DCI), and reference signals (RS), also known as pilot signals. gNBs transmit data information or DCI via their respective Physical DL Shared Channel (PDSCH) or Physical DL Control Channel (PDCCH). PDSCH or PDCCH can be transmitted using a variable number of time slot symbols, each including one time slot symbol. For simplicity, the DCI format for scheduling PDSCH reception by the UE can be referred to as the DL DCI format, and the DCI format for scheduling PUSCH transmission from the UE can be referred to as the UL DCI format.

[0065] The gNB can transmit one or more types of RS, including Channel State Information RS (CSI-RS) and Demodulated RS (DMRS). CSI-RS can be primarily intended for the UE to perform measurements and provide Channel State Information (CSI) to the gNB. For channel measurements, the Non-Zero Power CSI-RS (NZP CSI-RS) resource can be used. For Interference Measurement Reporting (IMR), the CSI Interference Measurement (CSI-IM) resource can be used. The CSI process can include both NZP CSI-RS and CSI-IM resources.

[0066] The UE can determine the CSI-RS transmission parameters via DL control signaling or higher-level signaling (such as Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling) from the gNB. The transmission status of CSI-RS can be indicated by DL control signaling or configured by higher-level signaling. DM-RS can typically be transmitted only within the BW of the corresponding PDCCH or PDSCH, and the UE can use DM-RS to demodulate data or control information.

[0067] Figure 4A An example embodiment of a DL time slot structure 400 according to the subject matter disclosed herein is depicted. Figure 4A The example embodiment of the DL time slot structure 400 depicted is for illustrative purposes only. Figure 4A The scope of the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited to any particular implementation. It should be noted that in the DL time-slot structure 400 described below, DCI information is not required as... Figure 4A The described location can be appropriately placed in other locations.

[0068] like Figure 4A As depicted, DL slot 401 may include a gNB in ​​which it can transmit, for example, data information, DCI, or DMRS. Symbol 402. DL system BW can include Each RB can include 1 RB. One SC. For PDSCH transmission BW, an M can be allocated to the UE. PDSCH RBs are used for the total SC 403. The PDCCH for transmitting DCI can be transmitted through the Control Channel Elements (CCEs) distributed throughout the DL system BW. The PDCCH can be transmitted by the gNB using the first time slot symbol 404. The PDCCH or PDSCH can be transmitted by the gNB using the second time slot symbol 405. The PDSCH and CSIRS can be transmitted by the gNB using the remaining time slot symbols 406. In some time slots, the gNB can also transmit synchronization signals and channels for transmitting system information, such as synchronization signals and main broadcast channel (SS and PBCH) blocks.

[0069] UL signals may also include data signals transmitting information content, control signals transmitting UL control information (UCI), DM-RS associated with data or UCI demodulation, probe RS (SRS) enabling the gNB to perform UL channel measurements, and random access (RA) preamble enabling the UE to perform random access. The UE can transmit data information or UCI through the corresponding Physical UL Shared Channel (PUSCH) or Physical UL Control Channel (PUCCH). PUSCH or PUCCH can be transmitted using a variable number of symbols in a time slot comprising one symbol. When the UE transmits both data information and UCI simultaneously, it can multiplex both within the PUSCH.

[0070] UCI may include a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) message indicating whether a data transfer block (TB) or code block group (CBG) in the PDSCH is correctly or incorrectly detected, a scheduling request (SR) indicating whether the UE has data to the UE in the buffer, and a CSI report enabling the gNB to select appropriate parameters for PDSCH or PDCCH transmissions to the UE.

[0071] The CSI report from the UE may include a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) that informs the gNB of the maximum modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for the UE to detect a TB with a predetermined block error rate (BLER) (such as 10% BLER), a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) that informs the gNB how signals from multiple transmitter antennas are combined according to the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission principle, a CSI-RS Resource Indicator (CRI) that indicates the CSI-RS resources associated with the CSI report, and a Rank Indicator (RI) that indicates the transmission rank for the PDSCH.

[0072] UL RS can include DM-RS and SRS. DM-RS can typically be transmitted only within the BW of the corresponding PUSCH or PUCCH transmission. The gNB can use DM-RS to demodulate information in the corresponding PUSCH or PUCCH. SRS can be transmitted by the UE to provide UL CSI to the gNB, and for TDD systems, SRS transmission can also provide PMI for DL ​​transmission. In addition, to establish synchronization or initial higher-layer connections with the gNB, the UE can transmit the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH).

[0073] Figure 4B An example embodiment of a UL timeslot structure 410 for PUSCH or PUCCH transmission, based on the subject matter disclosed herein, is depicted. Figure 4B The embodiment of the UL time slot structure 410 depicted is for illustrative purposes only. Figure 4BThe scope of the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited to any particular implementation. It should be noted that in the UL time-slot structure 410 described below, UCI information is not required as... Figure 4B The described location can be appropriately placed in other locations.

[0074] like Figure 4B As depicted, time slot 411 may include the UE transmitting, for example, data information, UCI, or DM-RS. Symbol 412. UL system BW may include Each RB can include 1 RB. One SC. For PUSCH transmission BW ("X" = "S") or PUCCH transmission BW ("X" = "C"), an M can be assigned to the UE. PUXCH RBs are used for the total SC 413. The last or more symbols of a time slot can be used, for example, to multiplex SRS transmissions from one or more UEs 414 or short PUCCH transmissions.

[0075] Figure 5A A block diagram depicts an example embodiment of a transmitter structure 501 using OFDM according to the subject matter disclosed herein. Figure 5A The embodiments of transmitter structure 501 depicted herein are for illustrative purposes only, and actual implementations may have the same or similar configurations. Figure 5A The scope of the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited to any particular implementation.

[0076] like Figure 5A Information bits, such as DCI bits or data information bits 502, as depicted herein, can be encoded by encoder module 503, rate-matched to allocated time / frequency resources by rate matching module 504, and modulated by modulator module 505. Subsequently, modulation-coded symbols and DM-RS or CSI-RS 506 can be mapped to SC via SC mapping module 507 controlled by transmission bandwidth module 508. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) can be performed by filter module 509. A cyclic prefix (CP) can be added to the output of filter module 509. The resulting signal can be filtered by common interface unit (CIU) filter module 510 and transmitted as transmit signal 512 by RF module 511.

[0077] Figure 5B A block diagram depicts an example embodiment of an OFDM receiver structure 531 according to the subject matter disclosed herein. Figure 5B The embodiment of receiver structure 531 depicted is for illustrative purposes only, and actual implementations may have the same or similar configurations. Figure 5BThe scope of the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited to any particular implementation. Figure 5B As shown, the received signal 532 can be filtered by filter module 533. CP removal module 534 can remove the cyclic prefix. Filter module 535 can apply Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). SC demapping module 536 can demap the SC selected by BW selector module 537. The received symbols can be demodulated by channel estimator and demodulator module 538. Rate dematching module 539 can restore rate matching, and decoder module 540 can decode the obtained bits to provide data information bits 541. DL transmission and UL transmission can be based on an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform previously known as DFT-Extended-OFDM, which includes variables using DFT.

[0078] As previously mentioned, the objective of 3GPP Rel-17 SID for RedCap NR devices is to support the same set of use cases in FR2 as in the case of FR1. Beam refinement can be a key feature for FR2 operation in NR. An important issue involves implementing beam refinement procedures for RedCap UEs in an RRC inactive state (also referred to herein as RRC inactive state or inactive mode). Therefore, the subject matter disclosed herein provides a set of beam refinement procedures to enable RedCap UEs in inactive mode transmissions in FR2.

[0079] RRC status in NR (3GPP TS 38.331)

[0080] When an RRC connection has been established, the UE is in either the RRC_Connected (connected) state or the RRC_Inactive (inactive) state. If this is not the case, i.e., no RRC connection has been established, the UE is in the RRC_Idle state. These three different RRC states can be further characterized as illustrated in Tables 1-3.

[0081] Table 1. RRC_Idle Status

[0082]

[0083] Table 2. RRC Inactivity Status

[0084]

[0085]

[0086] Table 3. RRC Connection Status

[0087]

[0088] Figure 6A and 6B A comparison of the signaling involved in traditional idle-to-connection transitions and inactive-to-connection transitions according to the subject matter disclosed herein is shown. Figure 6A and Figure 6B In both cases, time is relative, and time increases in the downward direction. For example, from... Figure 6A and Figure 6B It can be observed that, compared with the traditional idle-to-connection transition ( Figure 6A Compared to inactive to connected transitions () Figure 6B It can be faster and involves much less overhead signaling. These differences may be because RRC connections are maintained for inactive-to-connection transitions. Figure 6B ).

[0089] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the UE RRC state machine 700 and state transitions in NR is shown. At any given time, the UE has only one RRC state in NR. When the UE is in the NR RRC_connected state 701, the UE can transition to the NR RRC_inactive state 702 via a resume / release operation with a pending state, or to the NR RRC_idle state 703 via an establish / release operation. When the UE is in the NR RRC_inactive state 702, the UE can transition to the NR RRC_connected state 701 via a resume / release operation with a pending state, or to the NR RRC_idle state 703 via a release operation. Finally, when the UE is in the NR RRC_idle state 703, the UE can transition back to the NR RRC_connected state 701 via an establish / release operation. The UE cannot directly transition from the NR RRC_idle state 703 to the NR RRC_inactive state 702.

[0090] Rel-17 Small Data Inactivity State (3GPP RP-193252 Work Item on NR Small Data Transmission in Inactivity State)

[0091] Rel-15 of the NR specification is primarily designed for relatively large loads and relatively high bit rates. Rel-17 aims to further optimize transmission for smaller loads to provide increased UE battery life, reduce overhead associated with control signaling, and improve network capacity. The primary use case is considered to be mobile-initiated (i.e., uplink data) connections when the UE is in an RRC inactive state, but it can also be considered as mobile-terminated (i.e., downlink data) connections. Solutions can be based on, for example, Early Data Transmission (EDT) in an RRC inactive state; Rel-15 small uplink (UL) data studies captured in TR 38.804; 2-step or 4-step RACH; pre-configured uplink resources (PUR), etc. Given these considerations, the subject matter disclosed herein provides a general solution that supports a wide range of use cases and, for example, supports the transmission of subsequent data in the uplink or downlink.

[0092] Beam management in RRC-connected state in Rel-15 (3GPP TR 38.802-6.1.6.1 Beam management)

[0093] Figure 8 A schematic diagram 800 illustrates beam management in the RRC_connected state. In NR, beam management can be defined as follows: Beam management may include a set of Layer 1 / Layer 2 (L1 / L2) procedures for acquiring and maintaining a set of one or more TRP and / or UE beams available for DL ​​and UL transmission / reception. Beam management may include at least the following aspects: Regarding beam determination, for the TRP or for the UE, beam determination is based on the selection of its own Tx / Rx beam. Regarding beam measurement, for the TRP or the UE, beam measurement is based on measuring the characteristics of the received beamforming signal. Regarding beam reporting, the UE will report information about the beamforming signal based on the beam measurement. Regarding beam scanning, such an operation is to cover a spatial area using beams transmitted and / or received in a predetermined manner during a time interval.

[0094] Furthermore, the following can be defined as the Tx / Rx beam correspondence at the TRP and the UE. The Tx / Rx beam correspondence at the TRP is maintained if at least one of the following two conditions is met: (1) the TRP is able to determine the TRP Rx beam for uplink reception based on UE downlink measurements of one or more Tx beams of the TRP; or (2) the TRP is able to determine the TRP Tx beam for downlink transmission based on TRP uplink measurements of one or more Rx beams of the TRP.

[0095] The Tx / Rx beam correspondence at the UE is maintained if at least one of the following is satisfied: (1) The UE can determine the UE Tx beam for uplink transmission based on UE downlink measurements of one or more Rx beams of the UE; (2) The UE can determine the UE Rx beam for downlink reception based on uplink measurements of one or more Tx beams of the UE based on an indication from the TRP; or (3) Support for an indication of the UE beam correspondence related information for the TRP.

[0096] The following DL L1 / L2 beam management procedures are supported within one or more TRPs. Procedure P-1 is used to implement UE measurements of different TRP Tx beams to support the selection of TRP Tx beams / UE Rx beams. For beamforming at the TRP, it generally includes intra-TRP / inter-TRP Tx beam scanning from a set of different beams. For beamforming at the UE, it generally includes UE Rx beam scanning from a set of different beams. Procedure P-2 is used to implement UE measurements of different TRP Tx beams to possibly change the inter-TRP / intra-TRP Tx beams. Compared with P-1, P-2 can be from a possibly smaller beam set for beam refinement. Note that P-2 can be a special case of P-1. In the case where the UE uses beamforming, procedure P-3 is used to implement UE measurements of the same TRP Tx beam to change the UE Rx beam. At least network-triggered aperiodic beam reporting is supported under the operations related to P-1, P-2, and P-3.

[0097] UE measurements based on the RS (at least CSI-RS) for beam management can include K beams (where K = the total number of configured beams), and the UE reports the measurement results of the selected N Tx beams, where N is not necessarily a fixed number. Note that procedures based on the RS for mobility purposes are not excluded. If N < K, the reported information includes at least the measurement quantities for the N beams and the information indicating the N DL Tx beams. Specifically, when the UE is configured with K'> 1 non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resources, the UE can report N' CRIs (CSI-RS resource indicators).

[0098] The UE can be configured with the following higher-level parameters for beam management: (1) N ≥ 1 reporting settings and M ≥ 1 resource settings, wherein the link between the reporting settings and resource settings is configured in an agreed CSI measurement setting; (2) support for CSI-RS based P1 and P2 using resource and reporting settings; and (3) support for P-3 with or without reporting settings. The reporting settings may include at least: (1) information indicating the selected beam; (2) L1 measurement reports; (3) time-domain behavior: e.g., aperiodic, periodic, semi-persistent; and (4) frequency granularity in the case of supporting multiple frequency granularities. Resource settings may include at least: (1) temporal behavior (e.g., aperiodic, periodic, semi-persistent); (2) RS type - at least NZP CSI-RS; (3) at least one set of CSI-RS resources, wherein each set of CSI-RS resources has K ≥ 1 CSI-RS resources, and some parameters of the K CSI-RS resources may be the same, such as port number, temporal behavior, density, and periodicity (if any).

[0099] At least one of the following two alternative schemes, Alt1 and Alt2, can be supported for beam reporting. For the first alternative scheme, Alt1: The UE reports information about the TRP Tx beams that can be received using the selected UE Rx beam set, where the Rx beam set refers to the UE Rx beam set used to receive DL signals. Note that how the Rx beam set is constructed is a UE implementation issue. An example could be that each Rx beam in the UE Rx beam set corresponds to a selected Rx beam in each plane. For a UE with more than one UE Rx beam set, the UE can report the TRP TX beams and the identifier of the associated UE Rx beam set for each reported TX beam. It should be noted that different TRP Tx beams reported for the same Rx beam set can be received simultaneously at the UE, and different TRP Tx beams reported for different UE Rx beam sets may not be received simultaneously at the UE.

[0100] For the second alternative, Alt2: The UE reports information about the TRP Tx beams on a per-UE antenna group basis, where a UE antenna group refers to the receiving UE antenna panel or subarray. For a UE with more than one UE antenna group, the UE can report the TRP Tx beams and the identifier of the associated UE antenna group for each reported Tx beam. It should be noted that different TX beams reported for different antenna groups can be received simultaneously at the UE, and different TX beams reported for the same UE antenna group may not be received simultaneously at the UE.

[0101] NR also supports beam reporting considering L groups, where L≥1, and each group refers to either the Rx beam set (Alt1) or the UE antenna group (Alt2) depending on which alternative scheme is used. For each group l in the L groups, the UE reports at least the following information: information indicating the group for at least some cases; measurements for Nl beams (supporting L1 RSRP and CSI reports (when CSI-RS is used for CSI acquisition)); and information indicating the Nl DL Tx beams when applied.

[0102] Group-based beamforming can be configured on a per-UE basis. Group-based beamforming can be disabled on a per-UE basis, for example, when L=1 or Nl=1. Note that when group-based beamforming is disabled, the group identifier is not reported.

[0103] NR supports a mechanism that the UE can trigger for recovery from beam failure events. A beam failure event occurs when the quality of the beampair link of the associated control channel degrades sufficiently (e.g., compared to a threshold or an associated timer times out). When a beam failure occurs, a mechanism for recovery from the beam failure event can be triggered. Note that beampair links are used here for convenience and may or may not be used in the specification. The network can explicitly configure resources for UL transmissions of signals for recovery purposes. Resource configurations where the base station is listening from all or part of the direction (e.g., random access area) can be supported. UL transmissions / resources used to report beam failures can be located in the same time instance as PRACH (resources orthogonal to PRACH resources) or in a different time instance than PRACH (configurable for the UE). Transmission of DL signals is supported to allow the UE to monitor beams to identify new potential beams.

[0104] NR supports beam management with and without beam correlation indication. When beam correlation indication is provided, information related to the UE-side beamforming / reception process used for CSI-RS-based measurements can be indicated to the UE via QCL. NR supports using the same or different beams on the control channel and the corresponding data channel transmissions.

[0105] For NR-PDCCH transmissions supporting robustness against beampup link blocking, the UE can be configured to simultaneously monitor NR-PDCCHs on M beampup links, where M ≥ 1, and the maximum value of M may depend at least on the UE's capabilities. The UE can be configured to monitor NR-PDCCHs on different beampup links in different NR-PDCCH OFDM symbols. Parameters related to the UE Rx beamsetting for monitoring NR-PDCCHs on multiple beampup links can be configured by higher-layer signaling or MACCE and / or considered in the search space design. At a minimum, NR supports indication of the spatial QCL assumption between the DM DL-RS antenna port and the DL-RS antenna port used for demodulating the DL control channel. Candidate signaling methods for beam indication of NR PDCCHs (i.e., configuration methods for monitoring NR-PDCCHs) include MACCE signaling, RRC signaling, DCI signaling, canonical-transparent and / or implicit methods, and combinations of these signaling methods. Note that in some cases, indication may not be required.

[0106] For unicast DL data channel reception, NR supports indication of the spatial QCL assumption between the DL-RS antenna ports and DM-RS antenna ports of the DL data channel. Information indicating the RS antenna ports can be provided via DCI (Downlink Grant). This information indicates the RS antenna ports with a QCL corresponding to the DM-RS antenna ports. Different sets of DM-RS antenna ports used for the DL data channel can be indicated as having different QCLs for the RS antenna port sets. Note that in some cases, this indication may not be necessary.

[0107] On-demand SIB provision in NR (3GPP TS 38.331)

[0108] Other SIs are carried in System Information (SI) messages sent on DL-SCH. SIB1 messages can include scheduling information for all SI messages. Only Service-Based Interfaces (SBIs) with the same periodicity can be mapped to the same SI message. Each SI message is sent within a periodically occurring time-domain window called the SI window, and only one window length is defined for all SI messages. Each SI message is sent within its corresponding SI window, and the SI windows of different SI messages do not overlap.

[0109] SI messages can be sent multiple times within an SI window. Using the instructions in SIB1, any SIB other than SIB1 can be configured as cell-specific or area-specific.

[0110] Other SIs can be sent by periodically broadcasting on the DL-SCH, broadcasting on demand on the DL-SCH (i.e., upon explicit request from the UE), or being sent in a dedicated manner to the UE in the RRC_ connection on the DL-SCH.

[0111] The process for requesting On-demand SI

[0112] For UEs in the RRC_Idle and RRC_Inactive states, requests for other SIs trigger a random access procedure. After reading the SI scheduling information from the SIB1 message, the UE (via si-BroadcastStatus) determines the broadcast status of the SI message. This field indicates whether one or more desired SIBs within the SI message are being broadcast. If si-BroadcastStatus is set to "broadcasting", the UE will normally acquire the relevant SIBs. If si-BroadcastStatus is set to "notbroadcasting", the UE will continue with the RA procedure to acquire those SIBs. For this purpose, if the network configures PRACH resources for the UE to use for SI requests, a contention-free random access (CFRA) procedure is used; otherwise, a contention-based random access (CBRA) procedure is used.

[0113] Figure 9 An overview of example message sequence 900 for an SI request using the CFRA procedure is provided. Figure 10 An overview of example message sequence 1000 for SI requests using the CBRA procedure is provided.

[0114] There is no precise timing after the UE begins monitoring SI. The UE may begin monitoring slightly earlier or later than the actual start of SI transmission, but this should be acceptable as long as the SI is transmitted within a reasonable timeframe. Regarding when the UE should stop monitoring SI in the event of a failure to receive SI, the following text from TS 38.331 instructs the UE to repeatedly receive SI messages for multiple SI windows at least until the end of the modification period. The UE can then request SI messages again, and the network behavior may be to send SI messages during the modification period and then stop sending SI messages. If no SI message is received by the end of the SI window, the UE will repeat receiving SI messages of interest for the current modification period at the next SI window timing. Note that if the UE can acquire SI messages without interrupting unicast data reception (i.e., broadcast and unicast beam quasi-co-bit), then only the broadcast SI messages need to be acquired by the UE. It should also be noted that the UE does not need to monitor the PDCCH monitoring timing corresponding to each transmitted SSB in the SI window. Additionally, if no SI message of interest is received in the current modification period, the processing of SI message acquisition is left to the UE.

[0115] Example Implementation

[0116] Figure 11 An overview of an example message passing sequence for a beam refinement process 1100 for a UE in an RRC_inactive state, based on the subject matter disclosed herein, is provided. Figure 11 In the middle, time advances to the right. Procedure 1100 allows a UE in RRC_inactive mode to perform UL signal transmission and / or enhanced DL signal reception mechanisms (referred to herein as enhanced Tx). Specifically, procedure 1100 allows the UE to indicate to the gNB which analog narrow beam is optimal and should be used when receiving enhanced Tx and / or transmitting to the UE.

[0117] At 1101, the UE obtains system information (SI) by receiving system information block 1 (SIB1), which includes information for receiving subsequent SIB messages (here referred to herein as SIB-x). The information received in SIB1 may include indications of resources for transmitting SIB-x (e.g., time / frequency) and indications of resources for requesting SIB-x (e.g., when SIB-x is transmitted on demand to allow a UE in RRC_inactive mode to request SIB-x). SIB-x may be transmitted periodically, semi-periodically, or on an on-demand basis in response to a request for SIB-x. The content of SIB-x may include indications of resources and configurations for subsequent DL-RS transmissions and information related to measurement reports.

[0118] If SIB-x is being transmitted periodically or semi-periodically, the UE attempts to receive SIB-x at 1103 by monitoring the periodically or semi-periodically transmitted SIB-x. If SIB-x is being transmitted on demand, the UE sends a request for SIB-x at 1102, and in response to the on-demand request for SIB-x sent at 1102, the UE attempts to receive SIB-x at 1103.

[0119] If DL-RS messages are sent periodically or semi-periodically, the UE can receive the set of downlink reference signals (DL-RS) in the DL-RS message at 1105. If DL-RS messages are sent on an on-demand basis, the UE can send a request for the DL-RS message at 1104, in which case the UE can receive the set of downlink reference signals (DL-RS) in the DL-RS message at 1105 in response to the on-demand request for the DL-RS message. If the UE has previously acquired SIB-x, the UE can omit sending a request for SIB-x and directly request the set of DL-RS signals. The downlink reference signals can be used to perform beam measurements. The DL-RS message can include an indication of a set of RS sets, where each set in the RS set corresponds to a specific beam that the UE can measurable and indicates to the gNB as a suitable beam for reception. For example, the DL-RS message can include an indication of the type and resources (time / frequency) of the reference signal for the DL-RS signal to be used.

[0120] At 1106, the UE performs beam measurement using the DL-RS signal indicated in the DL-RS message received at 1105. The duration between different RS sets can be specified to account for appropriate measurement timing. At 1107, the UE sends a measurement report to the gNB based on the measurement performed at 1106. The content of the measurement report and the resources used to send the measurement report can be indicated in the SIB-x received at 1103, in the dedicated UL authorization, or in a combination of SIB-x and dedicated UL authorization.

[0121] At 1108, enhanced Tx can be performed. A predetermined time delay can be defined between the transmission of the measurement report at 1107 and the transmission of the enhanced Tx at 1108 to allow the gNB to adjust the receive beam accordingly based on the measurement report.

[0122] Table 4 below provides an overview of the beam refinement process for a UE in RRC_inactive mode, based on the subject matter disclosed herein.

[0123] Table 4

[0124]

[0125]

[0126] Beam refinement in an inactive UE

[0127] According to the subject matter disclosed herein, beamfinding for RedCap UEs in an RRC_inactive state can utilize a new SIB (referred to herein as SIB-x) for beamfinding measurement and reporting configuration. Additionally, a new e-Message 2 (E-msg2) can be used to allocate measurement reporting resources. e-Message 2 is an evolved message with more functionality than the traditional Message 2 (msg2). Furthermore, the UE can request DL-RS for beamfinding and can send UE beam reports from a UE in an RRC_inactive state.

[0128] Figure 12 Another example message passing sequence is depicted for a beam refinement procedure 1200 for a UE in an RRC_inactive state, based on the subject matter disclosed herein. Time advances downwards. The beam refinement procedure 1200 can be a contention-based or contention-free procedure.

[0129] Operation Phase 1 (OP1). The UE requests SIB-x information.

[0130] Variant 1.1. Competition-based process

[0131] During contention-based processing, at 1201, an inactive UE can request on-demand SIB-x by selecting a random access preamble and / or PRACH timing. The selected PRACH timing can correspond to the index of the synchronization signal block (SSB) with the strongest measured widest beam that was broadcast earlier. Requests from the UE can occur periodically or can be driven by events such as the UL buffer state for UE UL transmission, DL paging for UE DL reception, or the measured RSRP and / or RSRQ of the current DL beam being less than a threshold (due to beam blocking or intra- or inter-beam interference). Upon successful receipt of the request at the gNB, at 1202, the gNB sends an e-Message2 / RAR (extRA ResponseWindow) message to the UE acknowledging receipt of the request at 1201. E-Message2 differs from the SIB1 message, which is a broadcast message from the gNB to all UEs, as it is sent by the gNB to a group of UEs sharing the same RA-RNTI, rather than as a message sent to all UEs. In response to e-Message 2, the UE then sends a request for the SIB-x message in e-Message 3. e-Message 3 is a PUSCH transmission from the UE to the gNB. In contrast to e-Message 3, the request sent at 1201 is a transmission of a preamble sequence from the UE to the gNB, combined with the PRACH timing. The gNB acknowledges (ACKs) the SIB-x request in message 4 (not shown). At 1203, the gNB sends the SIB-x message to the UE.

[0132] Variant 1.2. Non-competitive process

[0133] In a contention-free process, at 1201, an inactive UE that has been pre-configured with PRACH resources for sending SIB-x requests sends an SIB-x request. The PRACH resources can be in the form of a random access preamble, an SIB-x-specific PRACH timing, and / or a RedCap UE-specific PRACH resource. The UE requests a new on-demand SIB-x by sending the pre-configured PRACH resources to the gNB. At 1202, the gNB acknowledges (ACK) the request in e-Message 2, recognizing that the SIB-x request originated from the specific UE that sent it. The triggering conditions for the UE request at 1201 can be the same as those for a contention-based process. No SIB-x request and acknowledgment are sent during a contention-free process. At 1203, the gNB sends an SIB-x message to the UE.

[0134] Operation Phase 1.5 (OP1.5)

[0135] For both contention-based and contention-free processes, resources for beam reporting can optionally be allocated in e-Message 2. Each RedCap UE that sends a request for SIB-x with different PRACH resources than other RedCap UEs is allocated resources orthogonal to the other allocated resources. In one example embodiment, resource allocation in e-Message 2 can be on demand, for example, when a UE sends a request for SIB-x for random access at 1201. Optionally, resource allocation in e-Message 2 can be periodically broadcast to UEs independently of e-Message 1 (which uses a different PRACH resource pool than normal message 1 (msg1)) and can include resource grants for measurement reporting based on the network remembering specific earlier requests for SIB-x sent by each UE in the past. RedCap UEs are likely to be fixed, so the set of RedCap UEs for each cell can remain unchanged, and the network can relatively easily remember the RACH resources used by each UE. In addition to the resource allocation in e-Message 2, when the UE changes from an inactive state to a connected state, resources for beam reporting can also be optionally allocated in regular message 2, which is used for the traditional RACH procedure. That is, e-Message 2 differs from regular message 2 by additionally including the allocation of resources for beam refinement and reporting.

[0136] Operation Phase 2 (OP2): Broadcast SIB-x.

[0137] At 1203, a new SIB-x is broadcast within the coverage area of ​​the wide beam indicated by the requested UE (i.e., the SSB index corresponding to the strongest wide beam). The gNB does not perform contention resolution for UEs using the same preamble and PRACH timing, as the broadcast SIB is for each competing UE. SIB-x includes beam measurement and reporting configuration. The contents of SIB-x are described below. SIB-x is broadcast a predefined number of times (i.e., aperiodic), or based on a predefined number of times the PRACH resource selected by the requesting UE is broadcast (i.e., aperiodic). Optionally, SIB-x can be broadcast periodically and semi-persistently until the UE explicitly requests the end of the broadcast, for example, when the UE has no data to transmit in the buffer, or when the UE has previously achieved good beam alignment with the gNB (in terms of the measured DL RS RP being greater than a threshold).

[0138] Operation Phase 3 (OP3): Broadcast DL RS.

[0139] Downlink reference signals (DL RS) for beam refinement can be broadcast on demand. At 1204, when the gNB receives an SIB-x request from the UE, the gNB can perform narrow beam scanning by broadcasting DL SSB or DL ​​CSI-RS in various narrow beams within the wide beam indicated by the requesting UE. Narrow beam scanning uses the configuration indicated in the SIB-x. DL RS can be broadcast continuously periodically (suitable for periodic traffic); broadcast a predefined number of times within a time window; broadcast a variable number of times within a time window based on the PRACH resource selected by the requesting UE; broadcast a variable number of times within a time window based on a specific SIB-x request in e-Message 3 in Operation Phase 1; broadcast based on the cumulative number of UE SIB-x requests within a time window; or broadcast periodically until the UE requests the end of the broadcast.

[0140] Operation Phase 4 (OP4): Measurement Report.

[0141] At 1205, the UE performs UL beam measurement, and at 1206, reports the results to the gNB using the measurement configuration indicated in SIB-x. Resources for reporting can be allocated in Operation Phase 2 via orthogonal resources or allocated in SIB-x to UEs using different RACH resources for Message 1, where the resource set is allocated and competed for by all UEs intending to report beam measurements. The measurement report may include the UE's C-RNTI. At 1207, the gNB obtains the optimal DL Tx beam and the optimal UL Rx beam based on the report.

[0142] Variant 4.1. On-Demand Beam Measurement Report

[0143] For on-demand beam measurement reporting, the UE can report beam measurements based on events such as when the UE has UL data to transmit in the buffer, when the UE is paged by the network because the UE has DL data to receive, when a beam fault is detected by making the measured RSRP and / or RSPQ less than a predefined threshold a number of times, or based on explicit commands from the network via DL DCI or RRC messages.

[0144] Variation 4.2. Periodic Beam Measurement Report

[0145] When the UE has been periodically configured by the network, the UE can periodically report beam measurements. In one embodiment, the UE periodically reports beam measurements until the UE enters the RRC_idle state.

[0146] Figure 13Example radio resource configurations for beamfinding of periodic synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) for wide-beam scanning, SIB-x for narrow-beam scanning, and DL RS (SSBs or CSI-RSs) are depicted according to the subject matter disclosed herein. Figure 13 In this sequence, time increases to the right along the horizontal axis, and frequency increases upwards along the vertical axis. Following the SS burst 1301, the UE sends an on-demand request 1302 for SIB-x. At a predetermined time delay 1303 after the completion of the SS burst 1301 and at a predetermined frequency difference 1304 from the SS burst 1301, the DL RS burst 1305 is sent by the gNB for beamfinding.

[0147] Additional details

[0148] As described in conjunction with Operational Phase OP2, SIB-x may include beam refinement measurements and reporting configurations for inactive RedCap UEs. Optionally, the SIB-x message may be broadcast after Operational Phase OP1, in which the SIB-x message is broadcast only once to the RedCap UE using the optimal wide beam. SIB1 should instruct the RedCap UE on the PDCCH and PDSCH resources used to decode the SIB-x message. This can involve relatively less overhead because if there is no request from a RedCap UE in Operational Phase OP1, it may not be necessary to send SIB-x. Furthermore, less overhead can be involved because beam scanning is performed only within the wide beam, rather than the 360-degree fully omnidirectional beam.

[0149] In one example embodiment, SIB-x messages can be broadcast prior to Operation Phase OP1, similar to SIB1 broadcasts, where SIB-x can be broadcast multiple times sequentially in each possible direction of the wide beam. SIB1 can indicate the PDCCH and PDSCH resources for decoding the SIB-x messages to the RedCap UE.

[0150] The measurement and reporting configuration in SIB-x described in Operational Phase OP2 may include specific quantities or sets of quantities to be reported; downlink resources on which measurements should be performed to derive one or more quantities to be reported; and how the actual reporting will be performed, such as when the reporting will be performed and what uplink physical channels will be used for reporting.

[0151] In one embodiment, the measured quantity may include L1 RSRP. In another embodiment, the measured quantity may include L1-RSRQ, namely SS-RSRP and SS-RSRQ.

[0152] In one embodiment, the measurement and reporting configuration in SIB-x may include DL-RS for measurement / reporting using CSI-ReportConfig, measurement resources, reporting volume and report type, configuration of RSs to be measured included in the NZP-CS-IRS resource set (including SSB or CSIRS), the resource set may be a configuration for periodic / semi-persistent / aperiodic transmission, and a set of CSI-RS or SSBs corresponding to different DL beams (beam scans) based on the current beam.

[0153] In one embodiment, the downlink resource used for measurement can be defined as a set of frequency and time resource element groups, where each resource element group corresponds to an SSB or CSI-RS transmission. Typically, a CSI-RS or SSB resource can be defined as one OFDM symbol in the time domain and a predefined number of RBs in the frequency domain.

[0154] Figure 14 Example radio resource configurations for beam refinement of conventional periodic SSBs for wide-beam scanning and new SSBs for narrow-beam scanning, based on the themes disclosed herein, are depicted. Figure 14 In this context, time increases to the right along the horizontal axis, while frequency increases upwards along the vertical axis.

[0155] The first SSB / CSI-RS resource can be defined by T_newSS and Delta_f, where T_newSS is the predetermined time delay of the new SS burst 1401 after the completion of SS burst 1402, and Delta_f is the predetermined frequency offset between the frequencies of the new SS burst 1401 and SS burst 1402. Other SSB / CSI-RS resources can have different predefined modes relative to the first SSB / CSI-RS resource. Different modes can be predefined and indexed by k. Therefore, the downlink resource used for measurement can be represented by the frequency and time domain positions of the first SSB / CSI-RS resource in the time domain and the mode index k. Other SSB / CSI-RS resources can be calculated from the first SSB / CSI-RS resource and index k. The first SSB / CSI-RS resource can have a fixed relationship with the traditional SSB resource, a fixed relationship with the CORESET#0 resource, and a fixed relationship with the SIB1 resource.

[0156] One embodiment of the uplink physical channel used for reporting beam refinement measurements can be a set of frequency and time resource elements that have been pre-allocated for beam refinement measurement reporting, wherein the set of resource elements has a fixed relationship with traditional SSB resources, a fixed relationship with CORESET#0 resources, a fixed relationship with SIB1 resources, and a fixed relationship with new SSB resources.

[0157] Figure 15 Example radio resource configurations for beam refinement of conventional periodic SSBs for wide-beam scanning and CSI-RS for narrow-beam scanning, based on the themes disclosed herein, are depicted. Figure 15 In this context, time increases to the right along the horizontal axis, while frequency increases upwards along the vertical axis.

[0158] For CSI-RS-based beamfinding, an example of resource configuration for traditional SSB for wide-beam scanning and CSI-RS for narrow-beam scanning can be similar to... Figure 14 The example shown is SSB-based beam refinement. That is, in... Figure 15 In this context, the CSI-RS set can be defined by T_newSS and Delta_f, where T_newSS is a predetermined time delay of the CSI-RS set 1501 after SS burst 1502 completes, and Delta_f is a predetermined frequency offset between the frequencies of CSI-RS 1501 and SS burst 1502. The frequency and time domain locations of the CSI-RS resources can be calculated using the location and mode index k of the first CSI-RS resource via T_newSS and Delta_f.

[0159] During Operational Phase 4 (OP4), when the RedCap UE is inactive and upon receiving a new DL SSB, the RedCap UE sends a beam measurement report to the gNB using the allocated reporting resources scrambled by TC-RNTI in the PUSCH. This report may include indications of up to X beams involved in a particular report; the L1-RSRP measured for the strongest beam; for the remaining up to Y beams, the difference between the measured L1-RSRP and the measured L1-RSRP of the best beam; the parameter reportQuantity in CSIReportConfig indicating the amount of L1-RSRP measured / reported; and measurements of the best N = {1, 2, 4} beams (SSBs or CSIRS).

[0160] A CSI-RS-based beam measurement report scrambled by TC-RNTI can be sent from the UE to the gNB. The parameter `reportQuantity` in `CSIReportConfig` indicates the amount of L1-RSRP measured and reported. The UE can report measurements for the optimal N = {1, 2, 4} beams (CSI-RS). In one embodiment, the report may include an indication of the N beams (i.e., the N RSs involved in the report); the L1-RSRP measured for the strongest beam; and the difference between the L1-RSRP of the measured n-1 beams and the L1-RSRP of the optimal beam.

[0161] Inactive state data transmission using traditional beamforming process

[0162] In an embodiment of inactive state data transmission using the conventional beam refinement process, when a UE needs to transmit data while inactive, the inactive UE can send a specific preamble to the gNB in ​​message 1 or message 3 of the RACH procedure requesting beam refinement. Upon receiving the request from the UE, the gNB performs beam refinement for the UE using the conventional beam refinement procedure in NR Rel-15 after the UE is in a connected state. Once beam refinement is complete, the gNB reconfigures the UE to an inactive state, or the UE autonomously enters an inactive state after a predetermined period of no data transmission. The UE can perform small data transmissions in the inactive state using the beam aligned with the gNB.

[0163] CSI-RS and SSB beam scanning for beam refinement

[0164] It should be noted that CSI-RS has a wider bandwidth than SSB BWP and is therefore more accurate, but it is within the bandwidth portion (BWP) of the RedCap UE. For L1 RSRP measurements, CSI-RS can use two antenna ports, which can result in more reliable beam measurements.

[0165] Message 2 can be a relatively large message that may include a set of UL authorizations, where each authorization is used for individual UEs using the same RO. UEs using the same Rach Timing (RO) in Message 2 can share the same RA-RNTI. The reason for using RA-RNTI scrambling may be to reduce the size of Message 2 so that Message 2 can include only sub-MAC PDUs from UEs in the same RO, rather than from all UEs in the cell.

[0166] It should also be noted that the SSB should not have RA-RNTI scrambling, because there is no need to scramble the RS.

[0167] UE report using resource allocation with inclusion of SSB index and strongest RSRP value

[0168] The CSI report can be scrambled using the TC-RNTI in the PUSCH and PUCCH as message 3, allowing UEs with different TC-RNTIs to reuse the same resources. UEs with the same TC-RNTI may conflict in the gNB; in this case, this is how the gNB resolves conflicts as shown in message 3.

[0169] For two-step RACH, a new SSB mode with medium beam granularity can be introduced to fine-tune the beam before message A without waiting for a wider beam to be detected in the conventional SSB.

[0170] In FR2, time-based SSB repetitions may be required to compensate for path loss with only one Rx antenna.

[0171] In FR2, a new SSB mode with repetition can be extended to maintain the same BW as the traditional mode, but located at a different frequency position and with a time offset from the traditional mode. The traditional SSB mode is in one position of the synchronization grating in FR2, while the new SSB mode is in another position of the synchronization grating in FR2 (traditional UEs decode the traditional SSB mode, and NR light UEs decode the new SSB mode).

[0172] The base station should broadcast two SSB modes in FR2, one of which is for NR light UEs with time-domain repetition. In FR2, legacy UEs decode the legacy mode, and NR light UEs decode the new SSB mode.

[0173] It can be assumed that the UE knows in advance whether it is in FR1 or FR2 by blindly decoding the synchronization grid.

[0174] Figure 16 This is a flowchart of an example method 1600 for performing beam refinement measurements in a wireless communication network, based on the subject matter disclosed herein. At 1601, devices in an inactive state (such as RedCap UE and / or such as...) Figure 3 The UE (UE) depicted in the diagram 116 receives system information from SIB1 from the wireless communication network. In one embodiment, the wireless communication network may be as follows: Figure 1 The wireless communication network 100 depicted includes, for example, a wireless communication network. Figure 2 The base station 102 depicted is a base station. SIB1 may include information relating to indications of resources for transmitting SIB-x by a wireless communication network. In one embodiment, SIB-x may be transmitted periodically or semi-periodically by the wireless communication network. In another embodiment, SIB-x may be transmitted in response to an on-demand request for SIB-x from a device.

[0175] At 1602, the device receives SIB-x from the wireless communication network. SIB-x may include at least one resource, at least one configuration for downlink reference signal (DL-RS) transmission by the wireless communication network, and indications of information related to a measurement report relating to beamfinding measurements to be performed by the device. In one embodiment, the DL-RS may be transmitted periodically or semi-periodically by the wireless communication network. In another embodiment, the DL-RS may be transmitted in response to an on-demand request from the device.

[0176] At 1603, the device receives DL-RS transmissions from the wireless communication network. At 1604, the device performs beamfinding measurements. At 1605, the device sends a measurement report to the wireless communication network. At 1606, the device sends enhanced transmissions to the wireless communication network based on the measurement report.

[0177] Embodiments of the subject matter and operation described herein, including structures disclosed herein and their structural equivalents, or combinations thereof, can be implemented in digital electronic circuits or in computer software, firmware, or hardware. Embodiments of the subject matter described herein can be implemented as one or more computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions for execution by or control of the operation of a data processing apparatus. Optionally or additionally, the program instructions can be encoded on artificially generated propagating signals, such as machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signals, generated to encode information for transmission to a suitable receiver device for execution by the data processing apparatus. The computer storage medium can be a computer-readable storage device, a computer-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memory array or apparatus, or a combination thereof, or can be included in a computer-readable storage device, a computer-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memory array or apparatus, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, although the computer storage medium is not a propagating signal, it can be a source or destination of computer program instructions encoded in artificially generated propagating signals. Computer storage media can also be one or more separate physical components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, or other storage devices), or be included in one or more separate physical components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, or other storage devices). Furthermore, the operations described in this specification can be implemented as operations performed by a data processing device on data stored on one or more computer-readable storage devices or received from other sources.

[0178] While this specification may include numerous specific implementation details, these details should not be construed as limiting the scope of any claimed subject matter, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments. Certain features described in the context of individual embodiments in this specification may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented individually or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple embodiments. Furthermore, although features may be described above as functioning in certain combinations and even initially claimed in this way, in some cases one or more features from the claimed combination may be removed from the combination, and the claimed combination may be for sub-combinations or variations thereof.

[0179] Similarly, although operations are shown in a specific order in the accompanying drawings, this should not be construed as requiring these operations to be performed in the specific order shown or sequentially, or to perform all shown operations to achieve the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing can be advantageous. Furthermore, the separation of the various system components in the above embodiments should not be construed as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

[0180] Therefore, specific embodiments of the subject matter have been described herein. Other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims. In some cases, the actions set forth in the claims may be performed in a different order and still achieve the desired result. Furthermore, the processes illustrated in the drawings do not necessarily require the specific order or sequential order shown to achieve the desired result. In some embodiments, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

[0181] As those skilled in the art will recognize, the innovative concepts described herein can be modified and altered in a wide range of applications. Therefore, the scope of the claimed subject matter should not be limited to any particular exemplary teachings discussed above, but is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for a wireless communication network, comprising: The transceiver is coupled to the wireless communication network; as well as A processing device, coupled to the transceiver, is configured to control the transceiver to perform the following operations when the transceiver is inactive: System information is received from System Information Block 1 (SIB1) from the wireless communication network, wherein SIB1 includes information relating to indications of resources for transmitting SIB-x by the wireless communication network. The SIB-x is received from the wireless communication network, wherein the SIB-x includes indications of at least one resource, at least one configuration for downlink reference signal (DL-RS) transmission by the wireless communication network, and information relating to a measurement report, wherein the measurement report relates to beamfinding measurements to be performed by the device. Receive the DL-RS transmission from the wireless communication network. When the device is in the inactive state, the processing device is further configured to control the transceiver to perform the following operations: Perform the beam refinement measurement. Send the measurement report to the wireless communication network, and The transceiver is controlled to send an enhanced transmission beam to the wireless communication network based on the measurement report.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The SIB-x is periodically transmitted by the wireless communication network.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, When the device is in the inactive state, the processing device is also configured to control the transceiver to perform the following operations: Send an on-demand SIB-x request to the wireless communication network, and Receive the SIB-x sent by the wireless communication network in response to the on-demand SIB-x request.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The DL-RS transmission is periodically sent by the wireless communication network.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The DL-RS transmission is sent by the wireless communication network in response to an on-demand DL-RS request sent by the device to the wireless communication network.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The device includes a reduced-capability RedCap user equipment, and the wireless communication network includes a fifth-generation 5G wireless communication network.

7. A base station in a wireless communication network, the base station comprising: First transceiver; as well as A first processing unit is coupled to the first transceiver. The first processing device is configured as follows: System information in System Information Block 1 (SIB1) is sent to a device wirelessly coupled to the wireless communication network, wherein SIB1 includes information relating to an indication of resources for transmitting SIB-x by the wireless communication network, and the device is in an inactive state. The SIB-x is sent to the device, wherein the SIB-x includes indications of at least one resource, at least one configuration for downlink reference signal (DL-RS) transmission by the wireless communication network, and information related to a measurement report, wherein the measurement report relates to beam-sharpening measurements to be performed by the device. Send the DL-RS transmission to the device. The beam refinement measurement is performed by the device. The first processing device further controls the first transceiver to receive the measurement report from the device, and The first processing device further controls the first transceiver to receive an enhanced transmission beam from the device based on the measurement report.

8. The base station as described in claim 7, wherein, The SIB-x is periodically transmitted by the base station.

9. The base station as described in claim 7, wherein, The first processing device also controls the first transceiver to send the SIB-x to the device in response to an on-demand SIB-x request received from the device.

10. The base station as claimed in claim 7, wherein, The DL-RS transmission is periodically sent by the base station.

11. The base station as claimed in claim 7, wherein, The first processing device also controls the first transceiver to send the DL-RS transmission to the device in response to an on-demand DL-RS request received from the device.

12. The base station as described in claim 7, wherein, The device includes a reduced-capability RedCap user equipment, and the wireless communication network includes a fifth-generation 5G wireless communication network.

13. A method for performing beam refinement measurements in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: The device receives system information from the wireless communication network in system information block 1 SIB1, wherein the SIB1 includes information relating to an indication of resources for transmitting SIB-x by the wireless communication network, and the device is in an inactive state. The device receives the SIB-x from the wireless communication network, wherein the SIB-x includes indications of at least one resource, at least one configuration for downlink reference signal (DL-RS) transmission by the wireless communication network, and information relating to a measurement report to be performed by the device for beamfinding measurements; and The device receives the DL-RS transmission from the wireless communication network. The method further includes: The beam refinement measurement is performed by the device. The device sends the measurement report to the wireless communication network, and Based on the measurement report, the device sends an enhanced transmission beam to the wireless communication network.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, The SIB-x is periodically transmitted by the wireless communication network.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein, The SIB-x is sent by the wireless communication network in response to an on-demand SIB-x request sent by the device to the wireless communication network.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein, The DL-RS transmission is periodically sent by the wireless communication network.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein, The DL-RS transmission is sent by the wireless communication network in response to an on-demand DL-RS request sent by the device to the wireless communication network.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein, The device includes a reduced-capability RedCap user equipment, and the wireless communication network includes a fifth-generation 5G wireless communication network.

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